Original article

Angiocentric glioma: a rare intractable epilepsy-related tumour
in children

Wiesława Grajkowska1, Ewa Matyja2, Paweł Daszkiewicz3, Marcin Roszkowski3, Jarosław Peregud-Pogorzelski4,
Elżbieta Jurkiewicz5
1Department of Pathology, The Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, 2Department of Clinical and Experimental

Neuropathology, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 3Department of Neurosurgery,
The Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, 4Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology,
Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, 5Department of Radiology, The Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland

Folia Neuropathol 2014; 52 (3): 253-259

DOI: 10.5114/fn.2014.45566

Abstract
Angiocentric glioma is a low-grade tumour that occurs in children and young adults with a long-standing epilepsy.
The typical histopathological features of this tumour is the presence of spindle-shaped cells, radially oriented around
the cortical blood vessels.
We present two teenage cases of the angiocentric variant of glioma: 1) a 15-year-old girl with a chronic and intractable partial epilepsy with cystic tumour located in the right temporal lobe and 2) a 14-year-old boy with intractable
seizures and an extensive cortical lesion in the left parieto-occipital area. In both cases, the total tumours excision
was performed. The histopathological findings revealed a characteristic angiocentric pattern that was composed of
elongated cells arranging in pseudorosette-like structures around blood vessels. Moreover, schwannoma-like areas
and subpial neoplastic infiltration with palisading of tumour cells at the brain surface were seen. The neoplastic
cells displayed immunoreactivity for GFAP, S-100 protein and vimentin. A slight “dot-like” EMA staining, suggesting
ependymal differentiation, was detected. The clinical and pathological picture allowed to establish the diagnosis
of angiocentric gliomas. The patients were discharged home in a good condition and without seizures. During the
4-year follow-up, the tumour recurrence and seizures were not observed. The appropriate diagnosis of this peculiar
type of usually low-grade glial tumour is important for adequate and successful treatment. The differential diagnosis
requires the exclusion of other tumours with an angiocentric pattern, i.e. ependymoma, astroblastoma, which are
associated with more aggressive biology.
Key words: angiocentric glioma, intractable epilepsy, paediatric brain tumour, schwannoma-like pattern.

Introduction
Angiocentric glioma (AG) is a rare, low-grade brain
tumour in children and young adults with a long-

standing epilepsy [6,8]. It has been included into the
group of “other neuroepithelial tumours” in the current WHO Classification of Tumours of the Central
Nervous System 2007 [3,5]. It is a slowly growing,

Communicating author:
Prof. Ewa Matyja, Department of Clinical and Experimental Neuropathology, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre Polish Academy
of Sciences, 5 Pawinskiego St., 02-106 Warsaw, Poland, e-mail: ematyja@imdik.pan.pl

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Wiesława Grajkowska, Ewa Matyja, Paweł Daszkiewicz, Marcin Roszkowski, Jarosław Peregud-Pogorzelski, Elżbieta Jurkiewicz

indolent neoplasm, classified as WHO grade I. Angio­
centric glioma occurs within a wide range of 2.370 years but it is mostly encountered in childhood
and adolescence (mean age 17 years) [2].
Angiocentric gliomas usually develop in the cerebral hemispheres. Majority of them are located superficially in the frontal, temporal or parietal
lobes, as well as in the hippocampal region. The case
with features of angiocentric glioma in the posterior
midbrain was also described [7]. Although AGs are
typically localized within the cerebral cortex, they
may extend into the adjacent white matter. On MR
imaging, AGs are T2- and FLAIR hyperintense and
hypointense on T1-weighted images, without contrast enhancement [10,19]. Calcifications are rarely
encountered. More than 90% of patients with AG
suffer from a long-standing epilepsy with intractable
partial seizures. The diagnosis of AG is established
by histopathological examination which should confirm the main angiocentric tumour pattern. Immunohistochemical study documented the glial origin of
neoplastic cells with an expression of glial fibrillary
acidic protein, S-100 protein and vimentin.
During the last years, the increasing histopathological and clinical data on angiocentric gliomas
have been reported but the biology of this tumour is
not enough understood [2,4,9,18,19]. We report two
additional teenage cases of AGs with a well-documented long, 4-year follow-up.

A

B

Cases report
Case 1
A 15-year-old girl with a chronic and intractable
partial epilepsy was admitted to the Neurosurgical
Department of the Pomeranian Medical University
in 2010. Psychomotor development was normal and
familial history was insignificant. Physical examination did not reveal any focal deficits or signs of
increased intracranial pressure. EEG showed the presence of fairy regular basic activity with series of slow
waves (frequency 3.3-4 Hz and voltage 120 mkV) in
the frontal-occipital-temporal lobes of the right hemisphere with tendency for generalization. Ophthalmological examination revealed a normal disc of the
optic nerve with distinct borders within the fundus.
MRI scan revealed a well-delineated, cystic lesion,
measuring 12 × 20 × 20 mm, located within the middle areas of the temporal lobe of the right hemisphere
(Fig. 1A). The lesion did not show any enhancement
after contrast administration. Surgical treatment was
performed with a total tumour excision. The histopathological diagnosis was angiocentric glioma. Control MRI head scan performed 8 months following the
surgery did not detect any relapse. Axial FLAIR and
postcontrast T1-weighted images showed the resection cavity with a small hyperintensive area, probably
corresponding with gliosis, without contrast enhancement (Figs. 1B-C). The patient was discharged home

C

Fig. 1. MRI feature. Case 1. A) Preoperative MR brain examination. Axial T2-weighted image showing
a well-delineated hyperintense lesion located in the right temporal lobe. B, C) Post-operative MR images.
Axial FLAIR (B) and postcontrast T1-weighted (C) images showing a resection cavity with the small hyperintensive area – gliosis. No contrast enhancement.

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in a good condition with no seizure recurrence. Due
to abnormal EEG the patient was on long-term carbamazepine 2 × 200 mg/d treatment.

Case 2
A 14-year-old boy was admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery of the Children’s Memorial
Health Institute. He had a history of prematurity and
developed his first generalized seizure at the age
of 3. Thereafter, his psychosomatic development progressed normally, except for a mild horizontal nystagmus. Since the age of 11, he presented the simple
focal seizures (paroxysmal right-sided hemianopsia,
monoparesis of the left leg with auras in the form of
scintillating scotomas) at the mean rate of 5 per day.
The first imaging studies (CT) revealed an extensive
lesion within the medial structures of left parieto-occipital lobes. The ventricular system was symmetrical
and not enlarged. MRI revealed the irregular area of
signal intensity on T2-weighted and FLAIR images
(Fig. 2A) and T1-weighted with only a slight enhancement of a part of the tumour (Fig. 2B). HMRS spectrum revealed a slight elevation of the choline peak
and slight depression of the N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA)
peak. Overall, MR appearance was consistent with
focal cortical dysplasia or benign tumour. EEG study
revealed moderate focal discharges in the left temporo-occipital and parietal areas, with a slight tendency
to generalize over the entire ipsilateral and posterior

A

B

aspects of contralateral hemispheres. Discharges
were enhanced by hyperventilation and somnolence.
Moderate clinical response was obtained upon application of anti-epileptic medication (valproic acid and
levetiracetam). At admission to the Department of
Neurosurgery, he was in a good overall condition with
no neurological deficits. The left-sided parieto-occipital craniotomy was performed under neuronavigation
guidance and the lesion within the parietal lobe, parieto-occipital fissure and crus of the hippocampus was
totally excised. The histopathological diagnosis was
angiocentric glioma. After surgery, the patient presented right-sided hemianopsia with no other neurological deficits. Post-operative MRI study revealed
a well-delineated resection cavity with hyperintensity at its posterior margin, probably corresponding
with gliosis, on axial FLAIR (Fig. 2C) and post contrast
T1-weighted images. There was no contrast enhancement. Pre-discharge CT revealed a postoperative site
with a moderate-sized pericerebral hematoma with
no mass effect and no disturbances of cerebral circulation. He was discharged home in a good overall
condition, fully mobile and fit. The patient has been
without tumour recurrence and seizures for 4-year
follow-up.

Material and methods
The surgical material was prepared by standard
methodology. Biopsy tissue was fixed in 10% neu­

C

Fig. 2. MRI feature. Case 2. A) Preoperative MR brain examination. Axial FLAIR image showing a corticosubcortical mass with high signal intensity, involving the left parieto-occipital lobes, without mass effect.
B) Preoperative MR brain examination. Contrast-enhanced axial T1-weighted image at the same level
showing a slight enhancement of a part of the tumour. C) Post-operative MR images. Axial FLAIR image
showing a well-delineated resection cavity.

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Wiesława Grajkowska, Ewa Matyja, Paweł Daszkiewicz, Marcin Roszkowski, Jarosław Peregud-Pogorzelski, Elżbieta Jurkiewicz

tral-buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin blocks,
sectioned at 5 µm thick slices, and stained with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E). Immunohistochemistry was
performed on paraffin-embedded specimens; labelling was carried out by the avidin-biotin complex
(ABC) method with 3,3’-diaminobenzidine (DAB) as
a chromogen. Primary antibodies were used against
glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP; dilution 1 : 800),
S-100 protein (dilution 1 : 500), epithelial membrane
antigen (EMA; dilution 1 : 100), vimentin (dilution
1 : 100), synaptophysin (dilution 1 : 200), CD56 (dilution 1 : 100), cytokeratin-AE1/AE3 (dilution 1 : 400),
and Ki67 (clone MIB-1, dilution 1 : 100). All antigens
were obtained from Dako.

Histopathological findings
In both cases, histopathological studies of biopsy
material revealed glial tumours composed predomi­
nately of elongated cells, aggregating around blood
vessels and forming pseudorosette-like structures that
closely resembled those of ependymoma (Figs. 3A-B).
The neoplastic cells were mostly spindle-shaped, bipolar with eosinophilic cytoplasm and oval to elongate
nuclei with irregular nuclear contours and granular
chromatin. Moreover, the palisading pattern of tumour
cells, mimicking schwannoma-like areas, was focally found (Figs. 3C-D). Compact, elongated cells were
also seen in the superficial layers of cerebral cortex
(Fig. 4E). Infiltration with palisade arrangement of the
neoplastic cells was observed in the subpial areas at
the brain surface (Fig. 3F). Mitotic figures were absent
and necroses or vascular proliferation were not seen.

Immunohistochemical staining
The neoplastic cells displayed variable immunore­ac­
tivity for GFAP (Fig. 4A) and vimentin (Fig. 4B). The tu­mour cells were also immunopositive for S-100 protein (Fig. 4C). Moreover, the “dot-like” intracytoplasmic
EMA positivity could be identified (Fig. 4D). The neoplastic cells were essentially negative for neuronal markers
(synaptophysin, CD56) and cytokeratin AE1/AE3. The
over­all MIB-1 labelling index was low, less than 1%.
The prominent angiocentric pattern of tumours
growth allowed to establish the diagnosis of angiocentric gliomas.

Discussion
Angiocentric glioma is a rare, clinico-pathological
entity that presents particularly in a childhood, often

256

in association with medically intractable epilepsy [5,
6,8,18]. The appropriate diagnosis of this entity is
critical, as this tumour is usually slow-growing and
treatable by surgical excision alone [1,18]. AGs are
sometimes associated with adjacent foci of cortical
dysplasia, thus careful pre-surgical evaluation of the
lesion is necessary to plan the extent of resection
and achieve a better seizure-free outcome [11,20].
Such association with coexistent malformation of
cortical development/cortical dysplasia might suggest a developmental basis of their origin [14].
AG displays various histopathological features,
which resemble ependymoma, astroblastoma, pilocytic/pilomyxoid astrocytoma and schwannoma. It
is particularly difficult to distinguish AG from other
gliomas that exhibit perivascular arrangement of
neoplastic cells. Angiocentric glioma is focally composed of spindle cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm
arranged around cortical and white matter blood
vessels, mimicking ependymal or astroblastomatous
pseudorosettes. The case with atypical histopathology including astroblastoma-like features and onionlike structures were described [16]. All sizes of vessels are involved, including large arteries of cortical
surface as well as more deeply situated capillaries.
The proper classification of angiocentric glioma and
separation it from other similar entities might be
particularly difficult in limited biopsy material.
The cases presented here displayed characteristic perivascular orientation of neoplastic cells,
accompanied by a schwannoma-like component and
subpial spreading. The glial origin of the tumours
was confirmed by cytoplasmic GFAP immunoreactivity. In both cases, the neoplastic cells revealed
EMA staining of a dot-like pattern. The presence
of pseudorosette-like fashion around blood vessels
and intracytoplasmic “dot-like” EMA immunostaining are characteristic of ependymoma and might be
related with ependymal differentiation of neoplastic cells. It has been documented that the specific
“dot-like” EMA staining corresponds to microlumens. The presence of microlumens and microvilli,
typical of ependymal cells, has been described in
some electron microscopic evaluations of AG cases
[15,18]. These findings supported ependymal differentiation in angiocentric gliomas, thus the distinction of AG from classic ependymoma ought to
be very carefully validated. Ependymoma is usually
more monomorphic and sometimes exhibits true
central-lumen rosettes, ependymal canals and dis-

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Angiocentric glioma

A

B

C

D

E

F

Fig. 3. Histopathological features of tumours. A, B) Angiocentric growth pattern with perivascular pseudo­
rosettes, mimicking ependymoma. C) Compact masses of elongated neoplastic cells, mimicking schwannoma-like pattern. D) Palisade arrangement of the spindle-shaped tumour. E) Compact, elongated cells
infiltrating the superficial layers of cerebral cortex. F) Subpial orthogonal aggregation of tumour cells in the
subpial region of the cortex. H&E.

tinct fibrillary cytoplasmic processes. Its extraventricular, occasionally superficial location is unique
and a long history of seizures is not typical. Moreo-

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ver, the ependymoma is usually well-circumscribed,
whereas angiocentric glioma presented more infiltrative growth. The correct identification of these

257

Wiesława Grajkowska, Ewa Matyja, Paweł Daszkiewicz, Marcin Roszkowski, Jarosław Peregud-Pogorzelski, Elżbieta Jurkiewicz

A

B

C

D

Fig. 4. Immunohistochemical staining. A) Strong cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for GFAP in bipolar tumour
cells. B) Immunohistochemical stain for vimentin. C) S-100 protein immunoreactivity. D) Intracytoplasmic
“dot-like” staining for EMA.

two brain tumours is crucial for their prognosis
and treatment. However, the evidence of admixed
features of these both entities might suggest their
close relationship [13,21].
Angiocentric glioma may also resemble pilocytic
astrocytoma, especially its pilomyxoid variant. However, pilocytic tumours are usually well-defined with
myxoid background and their perivascular formations are not so distinct and compact as it is observed
in angiocentric gliomas.
Other tumours of different histogenesis as astroblastoma and schwannoma ought to be also included in differential diagnosis. The distinction between
AG and astroblastoma was a challenge as both
tumours are characterized by a angiocentric growth
pattern and strong GFAP expression. However, astroblastoma is a rare and controversial glia-derived
neoplasm that is not universally accepted as a distinct entity. The so-called astroblastoma typically

258

exhibits marked hyalinization of the blood vessels
which is not characteristic of AG.
Another misleading feature of AG is palisading
arrangement of neoplastic cells at the brain surface
that resemble schwannoma-like structures. Less
fre­quently, the neoplastic cells may be arranged in
solid nests or nodules. Mitotic figures are usually
not apparent but in some cases the increased mitotic activity accompanied by malignant features i.e.
microvascular proliferation and necroses has been
described [12,17]. In such high grade variant of AG
with malignant features and tendency to recurrence,
the postoperative radio- or chemo-therapy ought to
be considered.
The histogenesis of AG is controversial. Angiocentric growth, “dot-like” EMA positivity and ultrastructural features suggest the ependymal differentiation
of neoplastic cells. An origin from radial glial cells
has been proposed. The molecular features connect-

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Angiocentric glioma

ing with IDH1, IDH2 and BRAFV600E mutational status were described in three paediatric cases of this
rare entity [4]. The loss of chromosomal bands 6q24
to q25 was evidenced in 1 of 8 analyzed cases [18].
Angiocentric glioma is an epileptogenic tumour
and might be associated with adjacent cortical
dysplasia. The outcome of majority of AG patients
is very good with freedom from seizures following
a gross total resection. Our two cases with a long
follow-up illustrated that a complete excision leads
to surgical cure and provides a seizure-free outcome.

Disclosure
Authors report no conflict of interest.
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