Germinomas of the basal ganglia and thalamus: Four case reports

Table 1 Patients’ characteristics

Case	Onset age (yr)	Sex	Duration(mo)	AFP (S/C)	HCG (S/C)	Histological diagnosis
1	12	M	2	-/-	-/-	Germinoma
2	10	M	3	-/-	-/-	Germinoma
3	15	M	18	-/-	-/+	Germinoma
4	8	M	24	-/-	-/-	Germinoma

AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; HCG: Human chorionic gonadotrophin; S/C: Serum/cerebrospinal fluid. M: male

Table 2 Neuroimaging findings before stereotactic brain biopsy

Case	MRI findings									18F-FDG-PET	18F-DOPA-PET
	Contrast enhancement	Mass effect	Hemorrhage	Calcification	Cyst formation	Ipsilateral hemiatrophy	SWI	MRS	DTI
1	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Hypo	Low NAA	Nor	Low	Low
2	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
3	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	N/A	N/A	Interrupted	N/A	N/A
4	N	N	N	N	N	Y (Bi)	Nor	Nor	N/A	Low	Nor

MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging; SWI: Susceptibility weighted imaging; MRS: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy; DTI: Diffusion tensor imaging;

18F-FDG-PET: 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography; 18F-DOPA-PET: 18F-fluorodopa-positron emission tomography; Hypo: Hypointense; NAA: N-acetylaspartate peak; Nor: Normal; N/A: Not applicable; Bi: Bilateral.