Intracranial malignant fibrous histiocytoma with abscess-like tumor necrosis. Case report.

A case of a malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) in the right temporal lobe of a 75-year-old man is reported. The tumor involved the brain and the overlying dura as one continuous mass and had undergone extensive liquefaction necrosis of its center that had a gross appearance similar to that of an abscess. The preoperative computerized tomography scan with injection of contrast material showed the lesion to have central and peripheral enhancement suggestive of metastatic tumor, glioblastoma multiforme, or abscess. Microscopically, the tumor showed the typical features of a MFH with marked acute inflammation in the areas of necrosis. No extracranial sources for this tumor were found clinically. This is the 15th reported case of MFH involving the central nervous system as a primary neoplasm and the first case with gross pathological and radiological features resembling in many respects those of an abscess.