Diagnosis of cerebral mucormycosis by needle aspiration biopsy. A case report

Needle aspiration biopsy is a valuable diagnostic procedure that, in many instances, can provide a specific diagnosis of deep intracerebral masses that are not amenable to surgical excision. A 59-year-old woman on steroid therapy had a sudden onset of left hemiparesis, and a mass lesion was seen in the right caudate nucleus by computed tomography (CT). A needle aspiration biopsy guided by CT stereotaxis was performed. Cerebral mucormycosis was diagnosed from the aspirated material and was confirmed by culture. As CT-guided needle aspiration biopsy becomes more widely utilized for intracranial masses, cytopathologists and cytotechnologists will need to become acquainted with the spectrum of neoplastic and nonneoplastic conditions that may involve the central nervous system and with their presentation in aspirated specimens.