Chondromyxoid fibroma (CMF) is the least common benign tumor of the cartilaginous origin. It is very unusual to find these tumors in the skull bones. We report one such case involving the temporal bone. Till date, only nine such cases including this patient, involving the temporal bone have been reported to the best of our knowledge. Grant Medical College and Sir J.J Group of Hospitals, Byculla, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. A 12-year-old female patient presented with a history of headache associated with left earache of 1 month duration. This was followed by swelling over the left preauricular region 15 days later. Imaging was suggestive of an expansile lesion involving the squamous part of the left temporal bone with calcifications suggestive of a benign chondroid lesion. The patient was operated upon with left temporal incision and complete excision of the lesion. The patient had relief from headache, earache and swelling, with no evidence of new neurological deficit in the post-operative period. CMF of the skull bone is an extremely rare tumor. Differential diagnosis should be kept in mind, especially in cases of calcified lesions and includes chordoma, chondroid chondroma, and low-grade myxoid chondrosarcoma. En-bloc complete excision should be the aim to achieve cure.

Primary pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) of the spinal cord is a rare slow growing tumor. To our knowledge, only five such cases have been reported in the literature till date. We report the clinical, radiological, and histopathological features of a spinal PXA in a 23-year-old female previously operated 5 years back for a spinal tumor, presented with weakness in lower limbs, sphincter incontinence and low back pain. Magnetic resonance imaging scan with contrast reveals an intramedullary lesion in the spinal cord from D8-D10 level. The patient was operated with reexploration of the previous incision, and gross total excision was achieved. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of PXA. Clinical and radiological follow-up is required to detect early recurrence. Adjunct radiotherapy or and chemotherapy should be considered only when there is postoperative residual or recurrence, however there are no definite guidelines in view of the rarity of this condition.

We report here a rare case of primary intracranial choriocarcinoma without evidence of tumor elsewhere, presenting as a ring-enhancing lesion managed successfully in our institute (Grant Medical College and Sir J. J. Group of Hospitals, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India). A 22-year-old, right-handed housewife presented with complaints of headache, vomiting, generalized tonic–clonic seizures, and right upper limb weakness of short duration. On neurological examination, the patient was conscious, cooperative, well-oriented in time, place, and person. Visual acuity was 6/9 in both eyes. Fundus was showing grade 1 papilledema. Tone was increased on the right side. Power was decreased in the right upper limb as compared to the left. Reflexes were brisk in the right upper limb. Imaging was suggestive of a thick ring-enhancing lesion in the left parietal region suggestive of glioma or tuberculosis. Complete excision of the lesion was achieved. The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathologic examination of the lesion and β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) levels. The patient recovered well postoperatively without neurological deficit. She was relieved of headache completely and there were no further episodes of vomiting or seizures. The right upper limb weakness improved to 4+/5. Choriocarcinoma is the most malignant lesion of all the gestational trophoblastic diseases. Primary brain choriocarcinoma presenting as a ring-enhancing lesion has not been reported in the literature. This diagnosis should be kept in mind, especially in young females of child-bearing age group. Complete surgical excision with adjunctive treatment is required to achieve prolonged remissions.