ABSTRACT
Arising from pinealocytes in the pineal gland, pineal parenchymal tumors (PPT) include well-differentiated pineocytoma (PC), pineal parenchymal tumor of intermediate differentiation (PPTID), and poorly differentiated pineoblastoma (PB). The pineal gland is a small midline structure located behind the third ventricle and between the two hemispheres of the brain. Tumors of the pineal region account for less than one percent of all primary brain tumors and often affect young adults of 20-40 years in age. However, about 3-8 percent of childhood brain tumors are found in this area. Pineocytoma is linked to loss of chromosomes 11 and 22 and deletion in the distal 12q region. Symptoms of pineal parenchymal tumors range from nausea/vomiting, seizures, memory disturbances, to progressive diplopia, as a result of a growing tumor mass that blocks the cerebrospinal fluid flow and disturbs the eye movement pathways, leading to hydrocephalus. Pineocytoma is a slow-growing, well-demarcated tumor.
