Intratumoral Hemorrhage as an Unusual Manifestation of Intracranial Subependymoma.

BACKGROUND: Subependymoma is rare, and little is known about subependymoma with intratumoral hemorrhage.

METHODS: A retrospective study of subependymoma was performed. Among 61 subependymomas, 4 cases of intratumoral hemorrhage were collected. All 4 cases were pathologically confirmed to be subependymoma and showed a benign character.

RESULTS: After complete subependymoma resection, the 4 patients achieved favorable outcomes. Pathology showed that dilated thin-walled vessels and/or hyalinosis of the vessel walls existed in all 4 cases.

CONCLUSIONS: The present series showed that subependymomas with hemorrhage and benign pathology are rare and that surgical treatment results in good prognosis. This series supports the hypothesis that the pathology of vascular degeneration may contribute to subependymoma hemorrhage.