Squash Cytology of a Dural-Based High-Grade Chondrosarcoma May Mimic That of Glioblastoma in the Central Nervous System.

Background: Intracranial chondrosarcoma is rare, and most cases occur in the skull base. Intradural chondrosarcoma is even rarer.
Case: Here, we describe a case of dural chondrosarcoma with a radiation history for nasopharyngeal carcinoma and a radical prostatectomy for prostatic cancer 15 and 8 years earlier, respectively. A 67-year-old man presented with a 3-week memory disturbance and dysarthria. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance images of the brain revealed a dural-based mass in the left temporal area. Under the impression of a glioblastoma, a resection and an intraoperative squash cytology were done. A necrotic dirty background as well as bluish-to-pinkish myxoid stroma were characteristic; the nuclei of highly pleomorphic tumor cells were hyperchromatic to vesicular with an occasional ground-glass appearance. The cytoplasm was of an eosinophilic hyalinized condensed morphology with an occasional granular appearance. Histologically, the lobulated mass was composed of hypercellular lobules of well-differentiated chondrocytes intermixed with anaplastic pleomorphic cells and diagnosed as a conventional grade III chondrosarcoma. These cells were immunoreactive for D2-40, S-100 protein and vimentin. Brain invasion was also found.
Conclusion: Albeit rare, dural-based chondrosarcomas should be considered in the differential diagnosis for meningeal tumors, especially in the case of previous radiation therapy.
(© 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.)