ABSTRACT
GANGLIOCYTOMAS Gangliocytomas are World Health Organization (WHO) grade I neoplasms composed almost entirely of welldifferentiated but dysmorphic ganglion cells.150 This mature neuronal population lacks a substantial neoplastic glial, schwannian or neuroblastic component and is therefore distinct from ganglioglioma, ganglioneuroma and embryonal neoplasms, respectively. However, gangliocytomas can be regarded as part of the ‘ganglion cell tumour’ spectrum that includes ganglioglioma. The latter are described separately later, but there is substantial overlap in the clinical, neuroimaging and histopathologic features of these variants. Another form of ‘gangliocytoma’ – the dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum or Lhermitte-Duclos disease – is a unique clinicopathologic entity that is also treated separately. See Chapter 41, Pituitary and Suprasellar Tumours, regarding gangliocytomas of the pituitary gland, a heterogeneous collection of lesions mostly arising within growth hormone-producing adenomas.
