Introduction: Gliosarcoma is rare primary malignant tumor of brain and is a histological variant of glioblastoma. This supratentorial tumor usually affects older age groups and is extremely rare in paediatric population. Morphologically characterized by a biphasic pattern having a gliomatous GFAP positive component alternating with a vimentin positive sarcomatous component. Immunohistochemical analysis is of immense help in confirmatory diagnosis by pathologists. Being a WHO grade IV tumor it bears a poor prognosis despite concomitant surgical and chemo radiation therapies. The present study was conducted to study the clinical and histomorphological features of gliosarcoma at a tertiary care institute.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at SMS Medical College, Jaipur during study period January 2013 to December 2018.

Results: 12 cases of gliosarcoma were reviewed out of which 4 (33.3%) cases belonged to paediatric age group. Mean age of study subjects was 32.9 years. Most frequent site of tumor was left temporoparietal (25%) followed by left frontotemporoparietal (16.7%). All patients presented with headache and vomiting. The most frequent associated symptom was altered consciousness followed by seizures. Light microscopic studies revealed mixed tumor with glial and sarcomatous components showing immunopositivity for GFAP and Vimentin respectively and a high proliferative index.

Conclusion: In present study a younger population was affected, so gliosarcoma should be kept as a differential diagnosis while evaluating supratentorial tumor in pediatric population as well. Immunohistochemical studies must be carried out to reach at the accurate diagnosis and to support treatment strategies.

Keywords: Glial tumor, gliosarcoma, immunohistochemistry, paediatric.

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Vijay Ramita

Postgraduate Student, Department of Pathology, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India