Gangliogliomas (GG) are mixed glioneuronal tumors of the central nervous system (CNS), occurring mostly in the pediatric population, with common sites being temporal lobes and less commonly in the frontal and parietal lobes. We report a case of a 7-year-old child who presented with bilateral visual defects for 6 months. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed an intensely enhancing mass lesion with calcification in the sellar and suprasellar region involving the optic chiasm and the left optic nerve. The mass showed almost bilaterally symmetrical diffuse spread along the optic tracts posteriorly and hypothalamus, temporal lobes, thalami and the basal ganglia. The lesion was radiologically indistinguishable from chiasmatic astrocytoma or a germ cell tumor but histopathological features were of a ganglioglioma. While a few optic apparatus gangliogliomas have been reported in the literature, such widespread diffuse involvement of the entire optico-chiasmal hypothalamic pathway is unusual.
Extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) is a plasma cell neoplasm without bone marrow involvement or other systemic characteristics of multiple myeloma. Few large-scale clinical studies have been conducted because of the rarity of EMP, especially when it arises from the mediastinum. Herein we report a rare case of solitary mediastinal plasmacytoma with reactive pleural effusion. A 58-year-old female presented with grade 4 dyspnea and dysphagia, with a mediastinal mass observed with on PET. CT-guided biopsy results were suggestive of IgG kappa-type EMP arising from the anterior mediastinum. The patient was treated with local radiotherapy to the mediastinum, and had clinical and radiological response s were good. Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for mediastinal EMP, but a complete workup is mandatory, including PET, as the majority of such masses coexist with multiple myeloma. (Turk J Hematol 2011; 28: 228-31) Key words: Extramedullary, plasmacytoma, mediastinal, radiotherapy
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