CYTOMORPHOLOGY OF ANAPLASTIC EPENDYMOMA IN A PLEURAL EFFUSION - A CASE-REPORT

In a 42-year-old woman a recurrent anaplastic ependymoma of the fronta l lobe developed intracerebral metastases and, after implantation of a n atrioventricular shunt, also metastasized to the lung, pleural cavit y and mediastinal lymph nodes. In routinely stained smear preparations of the pleural effusion sediment, the typical cytologic features of a n anaplastic ependymoma were found-papilliform cell clusters with acel lular axes (''pseudorosettes''), incomplete true ependymal rosettes, a nd epithelioid and tanycytoid tumor cells with signs of anaplasia. A p eculiar matrix material was a characteristic feature of this case and, to our knowledge, was not reported previously. It consisted of refrin gent, fibrillar strands composed of tightly packed, roundish to rod-sh aped granules. This matrix seemed to be associated with the cytoplasmi c processes of the tumor cells.