Co-Occurrence of Pineal-Region and Pituitary-Stalk Hemangioblastomas in a Patient Presenting with Von Hippel-Lindau Disease – A Case Report
Arq. bras. neurocir; 40 (2), 2021
Publication year: 2021
Introduction Hemangioblastomas of the pineal region or pituitary stalk are extremely
rare. Only two cases of hemangioblastomas involving the pineal region have been
reported, and four involving the pituitary stalk. The purpose of the present manuscript
is to describe an unusual case of supposed hemangioblastoma found concomitantly in
the pineal region and pituitary stalk of a patient diagnosed with Von Hippel-Lindau
(VHL) disease.
Case Report A 35-year-old female patient with a previous diagnosis of VHL complaining
of occipital headaches and balance disturbances for three weeks, who previously
had a cerebellar hemangioblastoma resected. The visual characteristics of the tumor
suggested a friable vascular lesion with a reddish-brown surface, and an incisional
biopsy was performed. The tumor consisted of a dense vascular network surrounded by
fibrous stroma abundant in reticulin and composed by both fusiform and dispersed
xanthomatous cells; the immunohistochemistry was immunopositive for neuronspecific
enolase and immunonegative for epithelial membranous antigen. The patient has been monitored closely for 2 years, and the supratentorial masses have not
presented any volume alteration.
Conclusion This rare association must be taken into account in patients with VHL
disease, or at least be suspected in patients who present a thickening of the pituitary
stalk and a pineal-region mass. We believe a biopsy of our asymptomatic patient could
have been dangerous due to inherent complications like intraoperative bleeding. We
recommend close observation of asymptomatic lesions with MRIs every six months or
until the lesions become symptomatic. If the pineal-region tumor does become
symptomatic, gross resection via a transcallosal approach would be ideal.
Hemangioblastoma/diagnóstico por imagen, Hemangioblastoma/cirugía, Glándula Pineal/anomalías, Glándula Pineal/cirugía, Pinealoma/diagnóstico por imagen, Pinealoma/cirugía, Hipófisis/anomalías, Hipófisis/cirugía, Neoplasias Hipofisarias/cirugía, Enfermedad de von Hippel-Lindau, Continuidad de la Atención al Paciente