Molecular Biomarkers of Brain and Spinal Cord Astrocytomas

Spinal cord astrocytomas are rare diseases of the central nervous system. The localization of these tumors and their infiltrative growth complicate their surgical resection, increase the risk of postoperative complications, and require more careful use of radio- and chemotherapy. The information on the genetic mutations associated with the onset and development of astrocytomas provides a more accurate neoplasm diagnosis and classification. In some cases, it also allows one to determine the optimal methods for treating the neoplasm, as well as to predict the treatment outcomes and the risks of relapse. To date, a number of molecular markers that are associated with brain astrocytomas and possess prognostic value have been identified and described. Due to the significantly lower incidence of spinal cord astrocytomas, the data on similar markers are much more sparse and are presented with a lesser degree of systematization. However, due to the retrospective studies of clinical material that have been actively conducted abroad in recent years, the formation of statistically significant genetic landscapes for various types of tumors, including intradural spinal cord tumors, has begun. In this regard, the purpose of this review is to analyze and systematize the information on the most significant genetic mutations associated with various types of astrocytomas, as well as discuss the prospects for using the corresponding molecular markers for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.

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Imprints, Smears, and Frozen Sections of Brain Tumors

Neurosurgery ◽

10.1227/00006123-199110000-00015 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 575-579 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Marc G. Reyes ◽

Fayez M. Homsi ◽

Larry W. McDonald ◽

Roberta P. Glick

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Middle Fossa ◽

Frozen Sections ◽

Spinal Cord Tumors ◽

Paraffin Sections ◽

Intraoperative Diagnosis ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Acquired Immunodeficiency ◽

Immunodeficiency Syndrome ◽

Brain And Spinal Cord

Abstract In this study, we compared the suitability and accuracy of imprints, smears, and frozen sections of suspected brain and spinal cord tumors of 150 patients. Eighty-six percent of the imprints, 91% of the smears, and 99% of the frozen sections were suitable for interpretation. Among the suitable preparations, 82% of the imprints, 92% of the smears, and 99% of the frozen sections agreed with our diagnosis on paraffin sections. Although frozen sections were clearly more accurate than imprints and smears, the latter two provided diagnoses in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome where frozen sections were not done to avoid contaminating our cryostat and in a patient with an epidermoid cyst of the middle fossa that could not be adequately frozen sectioned. Our study shows that imprints and smears complement frozen sections in the intraoperative diagnosis of tumors of the central nervous system.

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ACCUMULATION OF ANTIBODIES IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Journal of Experimental Medicine ◽

10.1084/jem.51.6.889 ◽

1930 ◽

Vol 51 (6) ◽

pp. 889-902 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Jules Freund

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Central Nervous System ◽

Cerebrospinal Fluid ◽

Slow Rate ◽

Immune Serum ◽

Brain Extract ◽

Rapid Rate ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Brain And Spinal Cord ◽

The Brain

1. Antibodies can be extracted from the brain and spinal cord of rabbits actively or passively immunized with typhoid bacilli. 2. The titers of the antibodies in the extracts of brain and cord depend upon the titer of the blood serum. In actively immunized rabbits the following numerical relationships exist between the titers of the serum and of these organ extracts: The ratio of the titer of the serum is to the titers of extract of brain and of the spinal cord about as 100 is to 0.8; the titer of the serum is to the titer of the cerebrospinal fluid as 100 is to 0.3. In passively immunized rabbits the titer of the serum is to the titer of brain and spinal-cord extract as 100 is to 0.7. 3. The antibodies recovered from the brain are not due to the presence of blood in it for perfusion of the brain does not reduce its antibody content appreciably. 4. Antibodies penetrate into the spinal fluid from the blood even in the absence of inflammation of the meninges. When the penetration is completed the following numerical relationship exists between the titer of the serum and that of the cerebrospinal fluid: 100 to 0.25. 5. The penetration into the cerebrospinal fluid of antibodies injected intravenously proceeds at a slow rate, being completed only several hours after the immune serum has been injected. The penetration of antibodies into the tissue of the brain occurs at a very rapid rate. It is completed within 15 minutes. 6. It is very unlikely that when the immune serum is injected intravenously the antibodies reach the brain tissue by way of the cerebrospinal fluid, for (1) the antibody titer of the cerebrospinal fluid is lower than that of the brain extract, and (2) antibodies penetrate faster into the tissue of the brain than into the cerebrospinal fluid.

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SUBPIAL HEMANGIOPERICYTOMA WITH MARKED EXTRAMEDULLARY GROWTH

Neurosurgery ◽

10.1227/01.neu.0000306116.93291.94 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 61 (6) ◽

pp. E1336-E1337 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Daina Kashiwazaki ◽

Kazutoshi Hida ◽

Shunsuke Yano ◽

Toshitaka Seki ◽

Yoshinobu Iwasaki

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Central Nervous System ◽

Nervous System ◽

Thoracic Spine ◽

Vascular Tumors ◽

First Case ◽

Intradural Tumor ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Fibrous Tumor ◽

Brain And Spinal Cord

Abstract OBJECTIVE Hemangiopericytomas, vascular tumors arising in soft tissue, are relatively rare in the central nervous system; they comprise less than 1% of all hemangiopericytomas. Central nervous system hemangiopericytomas occur primarily in the epidural space of the brain and spinal cord. There are no previous reports of subpial, extramedullary growing central nervous system hemangiopericytomas. CLINICAL PRESENTATION We document the first case of a subpial hemangiopericytoma with extramedullary growth in the thoracic spine. The patient was a 31-year-old man who developed progressively worsening left lower limb numbness that was followed by gait disturbance over the course of 4 months. INTERVENTION Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradural tumor at the T4–T6 level of the thoracic spine. Because the patient's symptoms progressed, he underwent resection of the tumor, which had arisen in the spinal cord subpially without attachment to the dura mater. CONCLUSION The pathological diagnosis was hemangiopericytoma. Differential diagnoses include hemangioblastoma, meningioma, schwannoma, and solitary fibrous tumor, the clinical course and prognosis of which are different from hemangiopericytoma. Our experience indicates that hemangiopericytomas can occur as intradural tumors arising from the subpial portion.

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The Loss of Function Following on Lesions of the Central Nervous System [Ueber Die Ausfallerscheinungen nach Läsionen Des Central Nervensystems]. (Neurol. Cbl., Nr. 13, 1907.) Rothmann, Max

Journal of Mental Science ◽

10.1192/bjp.54.224.146-a ◽

1908 ◽

Vol 54 (225) ◽

pp. 146-148

Author(s):

William W. Ireland

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Central Nervous System ◽

Nervous System ◽

Lower Portion ◽

Loss Of Function ◽

Cerebral Ganglia ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Brain And Spinal Cord ◽

The Brain ◽

Central Lesions

Rothmann points out how important it is to surgeons that the localisation of lesions in the brain and spinal cord should be made with the utmost accuracy. In many cases diseases do not strike suddenly upon a nervous system previously intact. Often the circulation has been previously deranged by arterial sclerosis, which prepares the way for transitory hemiplegia or aphasia. Sometimes there is loss of function after central lesions, which disappears in longer or shorter time. Goltz and his followers have treated many effects following the extirpation of the whole or part of the cerebrum as due to what they call inhibition (Hemmung). Thus the functions of the spinal cord are much impaired after removal of the cerebral ganglia, or the lower portion of the cord loses its reflex function after section higher up, but after a while it again resumes its act$ibon.

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Viral infections

Oxford Textbook of Medicine ◽

10.1093/med/9780198746690.003.0596 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 6082-6097

Author(s):

Fiona McGill ◽

Jeremy Farrar ◽

Bridget Wills ◽

Menno De Jong ◽

David A. Warrell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Central Nervous System ◽

Viral Infections ◽

Viral Meningitis ◽

Sudden Onset ◽

Immunological Reaction ◽

Neck Stiffness ◽

Conscious Level ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Brain And Spinal Cord

This chapter looks at how enteroviruses are responsible for most cases of viral meningitis where a pathogen is identified; many other viruses can also cause meningitis with considerable geographical and seasonal variation. Their typical presentation is with sudden onset of fever, headache, neck stiffness, and photophobia. There is no change in conscious level. Prognosis is generally good, though recent data suggest not always. Viruses invade and damage the central nervous system in two ways: directly, by infecting the leptomeninges, brain, and spinal cord; and, indirectly, by inducing an immunological reaction resulting in para and postinfectious diseases. In both cases, the terms ‘meningitis’, ‘encephalitis’, and ‘myelitis’ are used alone or in combination.

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Electrophysiology of the central and peripheral nervous systems

Oxford Textbook of Medicine ◽

10.1093/med/9780198746690.003.0570 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 5785-5802

Author(s):

Christian Krarup

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Central Nervous System ◽

Nervous System ◽

Nerve Conduction Studies ◽

Brain Diseases ◽

The Core ◽

Electrophysiological Studies ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Brain And Spinal Cord ◽

The Brain

This chapter looks at electrophysiological studies of the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system—the core investigations in clinical neurophysiology. These include electroencephalography, which is of value to diagnose epilepsy caused by focal or diffuse brain diseases, electromyography and nerve conduction studies, which are of value to diagnose diseases in nerves and muscles, and evoked potentials, which are of value to diagnose diseases of white matter in the brain and spinal cord.

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Lymphocytic meningoencephalomyelitis associated with Myxobolus sp. (Bivalvulidae: Myxozoa) infection in the Amazonian fish Eigenmannia sp. (Sternopygidae: Gymnotiformes)

Revista Brasileira de Parasitologia Veterinária ◽

10.1590/s1984-29612016023 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 158-162 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

José Ledamir Sindeaux Neto ◽

Michele Velasco ◽

José Mauro Vianna da Silva ◽

Patricia de Fátima Saco dos Santos ◽

Osimar Sanches ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Central Nervous System ◽

Nervous System ◽

Histopathological Analysis ◽

Administrative District ◽

Amazon Estuary ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Brain And Spinal Cord ◽

The Brain ◽

Hematoxylin Eosin

Abstract The genus Myxobolus, parasites that infect fishes, which cause myxobolosis, includes spore organisms belonging to the phylum Myxozoa and represents approximately 36% of all species described for the entire phylum. This study describes lymphocytic meningoencephalomyelitis associated with Myxobolus sp. infection in the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system, CNS) of Eigenmannia sp., from the Amazon estuary region, in the Administrative District of Outeiro (DAOUT), Belém, Pará, Brazil. In May and June 2015, 40 Eigenmannia sp. specimens were captured from this region and examined. The fish were anesthetized, slaughtered and dissected for sexing (gonad evaluation) and studying parasites and cysts; after diagnosing the presence of the myxozoans using a light microscope, small fragments of the brain and spinal cord were removed for histological processing and Hematoxylin-Eosin and Ziehl-Neelsen staining. Histopathological analysis of the brain and spinal cord, based on histological sections stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin, pronounced and diffuse edema in these tissues, and congestion, degeneration, and focal necrosis of the cerebral cortex. The present study describes lymphocytic meningoencephalomyelitis associated with infection by Myxobolus sp. in the central nervous system of Eigenmannia sp.

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