Neuroradiology
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Central neurocytoma is classically considered as an intraventricular benign tumour, largely based on data from small retrospective series and single case reports. We report on a 16-year-old girl who suffered from a large parietooccipital tumour that was diagnosed histologically as central neurocytoma. The features of CT, MRI and proton MR spectroscopy studies are discussed. ⋯ As well as elevated choline (Cho), the tumour spectrum showed strongly decreased N-acetylaspartate (NAA). NAA is assumed to be produced in mature neurons, and we therefore expected to find high amounts of NAA in this well-differentiated tumour, which was histologically composed of mature neuronal tissue. This observation leads to the conclusion that even the highly differentiated cells of neurocytomas are too immature to produce NAA.