EPENDYMOMAS IN CHILDREN - HISTOLOGIC AND DNA-FLOW CYTOMETRIC STUDY

Ependymoma, a common neoplasm in the central nervous system of childre n, expresses great variability of morphological appearances. Correlati on with clinical behavior has been controversial in previous studies. In order to explore the potential value of DNA-flow cytometric analysi s in predicting the clinical course of ependymomas in children, we stu died 22 patients with this tumor, selected from two large pediatric in stitutions. In addition, a number of histologic features were reviewed , such as necrosis, mitoses, endothelial proliferation, cellularity, a nd pleomorphism. DNA analyses of paraffin-embedded tissue from these t umors showed 9 of 17 (53%) with DNA indexes less than 1.16 and 8 of 17 (47%) with DNA indexes above 1.16. Ten of 17 (59%) patients died, 2 ( 12%) were lost for follow-up, and 5 (29%) are alive. No statistical co rrelation was found between DNA index, outcome, and histology. In spit e of the small sample size, our findings appear to support the general impression that ependymomas are morphologically highly variable tumor s of potential aggressiveness without valuable prognostic histologic m arkers.