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Central Nerve System

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Handbook of Practical Immunohistochemistry

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Abstract

Since most of the diagnoses specifically tumor diagnoses are H&E based, immunohistochemistry has a limited use in central nervous system (CNS). However, it is very useful in difficult cases in differentiating neural (e.g. synaptophysin) from glial (e.g. GFAP) tumors; differentiating low cellularity infiltrating glioma (diffuse astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma; most of them are positive for mutated IDH1or 2 from non-neoplastic lesions; identifying viral inclusions (JC virus etc.) and in neurodegenerative diseases (tau etc.). In addition, a few antibodies are now being used as predictive and prognostic markers (IDH1 etc.).

This chapter addresses frequently asked practical questions about the application of immunohistochemistry to the central nervous system (CNS). The first table, Table 15.1, is a summary table of frequently used antibodies in the CNS. The markers for individual tumor types in the CNS are given in Tables 15.2–15.20. Tables 15.21–15.34 list markers useful in differential diagnosis of CNS tumors. The last four tables, Tables 15.35–15.38, are markers for non-neoplastic lesions in the CNS, listing the markers for neurodegenerative disorders (Table 15.35), virus and parasite infections (Table 15.36), epilepsy (Table 15.37), and histiocytic disorders (Table 15.38).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropathology and Autopsy Service, Geisinger Medical Center, 100 N. Academy Ave., Danville, PA, 17822, USA

    Syed A. Jaffar Kazmi MD

  2. Department of Pathology, Cortland Regional Medical Center, Cortland, NY, USA

    Hope Hueizhi Wu MD, PhD

  3. Laboratory Medicine, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA, USA

    Conrad Schuerch MD

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  1. Syed A. Jaffar Kazmi MD
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  2. Hope Hueizhi Wu MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Syed A. Jaffar Kazmi MD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory Medicine, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania, USA

    Fan Lin

  2. Laboratory Medicine, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pennsylvania, USA

    Jeffrey Prichard

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Kazmi, S.A.J., Wu, H.H., Schuerch, C. (2015). Central Nerve System. In: Lin, F., Prichard, J. (eds) Handbook of Practical Immunohistochemistry. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1578-1_15

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