Course being offered at March 2018 USCAP annual meeting: Non-neoplastic surgical neuropathology that can be mistaken for neoplasia

SC07 - Surgical Neuropathology - The Other Stuff

Thursday, March 22, 2018 - 8:00 am - 11:30 am
This Short Course session includes up to a half-hour break.

Session Credits:

3 CME and 3 SAMs

Faculty

Bette K. Kleinschmidt-DeMasters, MD, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO
Richard A. Prayson, MD, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
Anthony T. Yachnis, MD, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Course Description

The majority of cases encountered in surgical neuropathology represent neoplasms. Subsequently, most pathologist, when confronted with a surgical neuropathology case, are usually “thinking tumor” and conjuring up differential diagnoses related to neoplasms. However, at times, non-neoplastic lesions are targeted for biopsy or resection. Most pathologists are less familiar with these entities, less comfortable with them, and consequently, more likely to misdiagnose them. Most continuing education courses and workshops are typically focused primarily on tumors. The treatment for a non-neoplastic condition simulating tumor versus actual tumor is radically different and hence the critical need for avoiding an incorrect diagnosis that might lead to incorrect administration of radiation or chemotherapy. This short course will focus primarily on “the other stuff”, those non-neoplastic conditions one is likely to encounter in a surgical neuropathology setting and the differential diagnostic considerations when faced with these entities. Topics to be addressed include differentiating gliosis from glioma, infarct from demyelinating lesions, angiocentric inflammation epilepsy-related pathologies, dural-based inflammatory lesions and cysts.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this educational activity, the learner will be able to:

• Provide a list of “flags” that should cause one to consider a non-neoplastic diagnosis
• Discuss differential diagnostic consideration for commonly encountered non-neoplastic lesions of the brain
• Provide an approach to efficiently workup the aforementioned differential diagnoses