Meningioma with rhabdoid features: Pathologic findings in dogs

Alexandru Flaviu Tabaran, Anibal G Armien, G. Elizabeth Pluhar, M. Gerard O’Sullivan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rhabdoid meningioma is a rare type of meningeal neoplasm in humans. This study reports the clinical, pathological, and ultrastructural features of 4 cases of canine meningioma with rhabdoid features. The cases were female and 8 to 12 years of age. Biopsies from complete surgical resections were examined for all cases. The whole brain with tumor recurrence was collected at necropsy in 2 dogs. Histologically, the tumors consisted of discohesive sheets of oval-polygonal cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and occasional paranuclear hyaline-like inclusions. Cells were intensely immunopositive for vimentin, negative for melan A and S100 protein in all cases, and showed variable immunolabeling for cytokeratin in 2 cases. Focal glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-immunopositive cells were present in 1 case. Ultrastructurally, the rhabdoid cells in case 1 contained prominent cytoplasmic whorls of intermediate filaments, recapitulating the ultrastructural features of rhabdoid meningioma in humans. In cases 2 and 3, the meningioma cells contained interdigitating cell processes folded in a maze-like fashion resembling rhabdoid-like meningioma in humans. In case 4, the voluminous cytoplasm contained many round-to-flattened mitochondria admixed with rough endoplasmic reticulum, indicating a predominant oncocytic differentiation and not the rhabdoid differentiation suggested by light microscopy. Thus, rhabdoid morphology occurs in different types of meningiomas, and ultrastructural findings are essential for a correct diagnosis.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)759-767
Number of pages9
JournalVeterinary pathology
Volume59
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank our colleagues Paula Overn and Katalin Kovacs in the Comparative Pathology Shared Resource for excellent technical assistance, and Dean Muldoon in the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for the outstanding electron microscopy preparation. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.

Keywords

  • brain
  • dog
  • electron microscopy
  • histology
  • meningioma
  • neoplasia
  • rhabdoid
  • ultrastructure

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