Pathology of Intraventricular Tumors

Intraventricular tumors are rare and comprise a variety of histological entities. They may be found throughout the ventricular system, which is comprised broadly of the lateral ventricles, third ventricle, cerebral aqueduct, and fourth ventricle. Given the widespread and varied topography of the ventricular system, its presence in the supratentorial and infratentorial compartments, as well as its diverse cellular constituency, it is not surprising that tumors arising from this complex are quite heterogeneous in location, clinical consequence, and biological behavior. The diverse nature of intraventricular tumors makes their classification more challenging than the standard intra-axial versus extra-axial categorization applied to many central nervous system lesions.