View source for Disease of the pineal gland

Diseases of the [[pineal gland]] include cysts, calcifications and tumors.

== Cysts ==
[[wikiskripta:Cysty|Cysts]] of the pineal gland are mostly asymptomatic. However, larger cysts can compress surrounding structures. They occur most often in young women.

== Calcification ==
[[Calcium (General)|Calcified formations]] - the so-called brain sand (corpora arenacea) commonly occur with increasing age. These are protein formations in which calcium salts are stored.

== Tumors ==
[[File:Pineocytoma - high mag.jpg|thumb|Pineocytoma]]
Pineal tumors (pinealomas) are rare. Most (50-70%) originate from isolated embryonic germ cells. Tumors that are from cells of the parenchyma of the pineal gland - pinealocytes, are called pineocytoma and pineoblastoma. '''Pineocytoma''' (pinealocytoma) is a slow-growing benign tumor. '''Pineoblastoma''' is a fast-growing high-grade tumor.

=== Germ cell tumors ===
They most often take the form of a [[Germinal tumors|germinoma]] , resembling a testicular seminoma or an ovarian dysgerminoma. Other types according to germ cell differentiation are embryonal carcinoma, [[Germinal tumors|choriocarcinoma]] and, rarely, [[Germinal tumors|teratomas]] .

=== Tumors of the pineal parenchyma ===
[[File:Pineoblastoma HE x200.jpg|thumb|Pineoblastoma]]
These lesions originate from specialized cells of the pineal gland (pinealocytes) that have features of neuronal differentiation. '''Pineocytomas''' are highly differentiated lesions with areas of [[neuropil]] , cells with a small round nucleus and no evidence of mitosis or necrosis. '''Pineoblastoma''' is a high-grade variant with little sign of neuronal differentiation, densely packed small cells with necrosis and a number of mitoses. High-grade tumors of the pineal gland occur in children, while low-grade lesions more often affect adults. Highly aggressive pineoblastoma often spreads through the [[Cerebrospinal fluid examination|cerebrospinal fluid]] .



== Links ==

=== Related Articles ===

* [[Pineal gland]]
* [[Hereditary cancer syndromes|Germline tumors]]
* [[wikiskripta:Patologické_zvápenění|Calcification (pathology)]]

=== References [ edit | edit source ] ===

* KUMAR, [edited by] Vinay, Vinay KUMAR and Jon C. Aster ; with illustrations by James A. Perkins. ''Robbins and Cotran pathological basis of disease : [object Object]. ''9th edition. Philadelphia : Elsevier Saunders, c2015. <nowiki>ISBN 9781455726134</nowiki> .

* WHITEHEAD, MT, C OH and A RAJU, et al. Physiologic pineal region, choroid plexus, and dural calcifications in the first decade of life. ''AJNR Am J Neuroradiol'' [online] ''. ''2015, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 575-80, also available from < <nowiki>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25355815</nowiki> >. ISSN 0195-6108 (print), 1936-959X.