Astrocytoma differential diagnosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Fahimeh Shojaei, M.D.

Differentiating astrocytoma from other Diseases

Diseases		Clinical manifestations					Para-clinical findings			Gold standard	Additional findings
		Symptoms				Physical examination
							Lab Findings	MRI	Immunohistopathology
		Head- ache	Seizure	Visual disturbance	Constitutional	Focal neurological deficit
Adult primary brain tumors	Glioblastoma multiforme	+	+/−	+/−	−	+	−	Supratentorial Irregular ring-nodular enhancing lesions Central necrosis Surrounding vasogenic edema Cross corpus callosum (butterfly glioma)	Astrocyte origin Pleomorphic cell Pseudopalisading appearance GFAP + Necrosis + Hemorrhage + Vascular prolifration +	Biopsy	Highest incidence in fifth and sixth decades of life Most of the time, focal neurological deficit is the presenting sign.
	Oligodendroglioma	+	+	+/−	−	+	−	Almost always in cerebral hemisphers (frontal lobes) Hypointense on T1 Hyperintense on T2 Calcification Chicken wire capillary pattern	Oligodendrocyte origin Calcification + Fried egg cell appearance	Biopsy	Highest incidence is between 40 and 50 years of age. Most of the time, epileptic seizure is the presenting sign.
	Meningioma	+	+/−	+/−	−	+	−	Well circumscribed Extra-axial mass Dural attachment CSF vascular cleft sign Sunburst appearance of the vessels	Arachnoid origin Psammoma bodies Whorled spindle cell pattern	Biopsy	Highest incidence is between 40 and 50 years of age. Most of the time, focal neurological deficit and epileptic seizure are the presenting signs. May be associated with NF-2
	Hemangioblastoma	+	+/−	+/−	−	+	−	Infratentorial Cystic lesion with a solid enhancing mural nodule	Blood vessel origin Capillaries with thin walls	Biopsy	Might secret erythropoietin and cause polycythemia May be associated with von hippel-lindau syndrome
	Pituitary adenoma	−	−	+ Bitemporal hemianopia	−	−	Endocrine abnormalities as a result of functional adenomas or pressure effect of non-functional adenomas	Isointense to normal pituitary gland in T1	Endocrine cell hyperplasia	Biopsy	Initialy presents with upper bitemporal quadrantanopsia followed by bitemporal hemianopsia (pressure on optic chiasma from below)
	Schwannoma	−	−	−	−	+	−	Split-fat sign Fascicular sign Often have areas of hemosiderin	Schwann cell origin S100+	Biopsy	It causes hearing loss and tinnitus May be associated with NF-2 (bilateral schwannomas)
	Primary CNS lymphoma	+	+/−	+/−	−	+	−	Usually deep in the white matter Single mass with ring enhancement	B cell origin Similar to non hodgkin lymphoma (diffuse large B cell)	Biopsy	Usually in young immunocompromized patients (HIV) or old immunocompetent person.
Childhood primary brain tumors	Pilocytic astrocytoma	+	+/−	+/−	−	+	−	Infratentorial Solid and cystic component Mostly in posterior fossa Usually in cerebellar hemisphers and vermis	Glial cell origin Solid and cystic component GFAP +	Biopsy	Most of the time, cerebellar dysfunction is the presenting signs.
	Medulloblastoma	+	+/−	+/−	−	+	−	Infratentorial Mostly in cerebellum Non communicating hydrocephalus	Neuroectoderm origin Homer wright rosettes	Biopsy	Drop metastasis ( metastasis through CSF)
	Ependymoma	+	+/−	+/−	−	+	−	Infratentorial Usually found in 4th ventricle Mixed cystic/solid lesion Hydrocephalus	Ependymal cell origin Perivascular pseudorosette	Biopsy	Causes an unusually persistent, continuous headache in children.
	Craniopharyngioma	+	+/−	+ Bitemporal hemianopia	−	+	Hypopituitarism as a result of pressure effect on pituitary gland	Calcification Lobulated contour Motor-oil like fluid within tumor	Ectodermal origin (Rathkes pouch) Calcification +	Biopsy	Initialy presents with lower bitemporal quadrantanopsia followed by bitemporal hemianopsia (pressure on optic chiasma from above)
	Pinealoma	+	+/−	+/−	−	+ vertical gaze palsy	B-hCG rise leads to precocious puberty in males	Hydrocephalus (compression of cerebral aqueduct)	Similar to testicular seminoma	Biopsy	May cause prinaud syndrome (vertical gaze palsy, pupillary light-near dissociation, lid retraction and convergence-retraction nystagmus
Vascular	AV malformation	+	+	+/−	−	+/−	−	Supratentorial: ~85% Flow voids on T2 weighted images	We do not perform biopsy for AVM	Angiography	We may see bag of worms" appearance in CT angiography
	Brain aneurysm	+	+/−	+/−	−	+/−	−	In magnetic resonance angiography, we may see aneurysm mostly in anterior circulation (~85%)	We do not perform biopsy for brain aneurysm	Magnetic resonance angiography and CT angiography (Angiography is reserved for patients who have negative MAR and CTA)	It is associated with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, pseudoxanthoma elasticum and Bicuspid aortic valve.
Infectious	Bacterial brain abscess	+	+/−	+/−	+	+	Leukocytosis Elevated ESR Blood culture may be positive for underlying organism	Central hypodense signal and surrounding ring-enhancement in T1 Central hyperintense area surrounded by a well-defined hypointense capsule with surrounding edema in T2	We do not perform biopsy for brain abscess	Clinical presentation/ imaging	The most common causes of brain abscess are Streptococcus and Staphylococcus.
	Tuberculosis	+	+/−	+/−	+	+	Positive acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear in CSF specimen Positive CSF nucleic acid amplification testing Hyponatremia (inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone) Mild anemia Leukocytosis	Hydrocephalus combined with marked basilar meningeal enhancement	We do not perform biopsy for brain tuberculosis	CSF analysis/ Imaging	It is associated with HIV infection
	Toxoplasmosis	+	+/−	+/−		+	Normal CSF	Multifocal masses with ring enhancement Mostly in basal ganglia, thalami, and corticomedullary junction.	We do not perform biopsy for brain toxoplasmosis	Clinical presentation/ imaging	It is associated with HIV infection
	Hydatid cyst	+	+/−	+/−	+	+	Positive serology (Antibody detection for E. granulosus)	Honeycomb appearance Necrotic area	We do not perform biopsy for hydatid cysts	Imaging	Brain, eye, and splenic cysts may not produce detectable amount of antibodies
	CNS cryptococcosis	+	+/−	+/−	+	+	Positive CSF antigen testing (coccidioidomycosis) CSF lymphocytic pleocytosis Elevated CSF proteins and lactate Low CSF glucose	Dilated perivascular spaces Basal ganglia pseudocysts Soap bubble brain lesions (cryptococcus neoformans)	We may see numerous acutely branching septate hyphae	Lab data/ Imaging since brain biopsies are highly invasive and may may cause neurological deficits, we diagnose CNS fungal infections based on laboratory and imaging findings	Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis is the most common It is associated with (HIV), immunosuppressive therapies, and organ transplants. In may happen in immunocompetent patients undergoing invasive procedures ( neurosurgery) or exposed to contaminated devices or drugs
	CNS aspergillosis	+	+/−	+/−	+	+	Positive galactomannan antigen testing (aspergillosis) CSF lymphocytic pleocytosis Elevated CSF proteins and lactate Low CSF glucose	Multiple abscesses Ring enhancement Peripheral low signal intensity on T2	We may see numerous acutely branching septate hyphae	Lab data/ Imaging since brain biopsies are highly invasive and may may cause neurological deficits, we diagnose CNS fungal infections based on laboratory and imaging findings	Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis is the most common It is associated with (HIV), immunosuppressive therapies, and organ transplants. In may happen in immunocompetent patients undergoing invasive procedures ( neurosurgery) or exposed to contaminated devices or drugs
Other	Brain metastasis	+	+/−	+/−	+	+	−	Multiple lesions Vasogenic edema	Based on the primary cancer type we may have different immunohistopathology findings.	History/ imaging If there is any uncertainty about etiology, biopsy should be performed	Most common primary tumors that metastasis to brain: Lung cancer Renal cell carcinoma Breast cancer Melanoma Gastrointestinal tract