Cytology of primary neoplasms of the central nervous system.

The case histories of 273 patients with primary neoplasms of the central nervous system seen in The New York Hospital and Memorial Hospital during the years 1968 through 1973 were reviewed. Neoplastic cells were identified in cytologic preparations obtained from 76 patients. These include patients with meningioma, astrocytoma, glioblastoma multiforme, oligodendroglioma, ependymoma, medulloblastoma, neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, pineoblastoma, and pituitary adenoma. It is concluded that there are certain suggestive cellular features of these neoplasms in cytologic preparations, but additional studies are needed to establish the cytomorphologic characteristics which may aid in the differential diagnosis of primary intracranial neoplasms from extracranial neoplasms which are metastatic to the central nervous system.