Three cases of intramedullary spinal hemangioblastoma: the role of intraoperative histological diagnosis.

Three cases of intramedullary spinal hemangioblastoma are presented. Since the tissue adjacent to the neoplasm often shows a gliosis resembling an astrocytoma, a misinterpretation in the intraoperative histological diagnosis may lead to an unnecessary extirpation of the reactive tissue. It is recommended that biopsies be performed in cases in which a hemangioblastoma being considered. This is necessary in order to get specimen from the hemangioblastoma itself for the intraoperative histological evaluation.