Question
A 59-year-old male presents with severe headaches and fatigue of several months duration. A 4 cm, poorly-defined, necrotic left cerebral mass is found on CT and is subsequently biopsied and the photomicrograph is shown below. What is this round structure in the center of the field?
A. Psammoma body.
B. Rosenthal body.
C. Glomeruloid body.
D. Pick body.
Show Answer
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Correct Answer » C
Explanation
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The answer is C, glomeruloid body. Composed of a tuft of vascular structures, this ball-like structure is characteristic of glioblastoma. Glioblastomas are similar to anaplastic astrocytomas in that they are composed of markedly pleomorphic astrocytes in a fibrillary background. However, glioblastomas also demonstrate necrosis and vascular proliferation. The prognosis for these tumors is very poor.
Rosenthal bodies (or Rosenthal fibers) are elongated, eosinophilic structures composed of heat-shock proteins and ubiquitin. They are seen in pilocytic astrocytomas, areas of long-term gliosis, and areas of reactive brain adjacent to craniopharyngiomas.
Pick bodies are cytoplasmic neuronal inclusions containing tau protein seen in Pick disease, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system.
