Alessandro Landi1, Giovanni Grasso2, Fabrizio Gregori1, Giorgia Iacopino1, Andrea Ruggeri1, Roberto Delfini1. 1. Division of Neurosurgery A, Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. 2. Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences (BIONEC), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: giovanni.grasso@unipa.it.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Intramedullary (IM) schwannomas are rare entities representing 0.3%-1% of intramedullary tumors and 1.1% of spinal schwannomas. Beside many theories proposed, their rare occurrence might be related to the absence of Schwann cells in the spinal cord. Pediatric IM schwannomas are uncommon, and in the absence of neurofibromatosis they are extremely rare. To date, few cases have been reported in the literature. CASE DESCRIPTION: We describe the case of an 8-year-old female affected by a progressive paraparesis. Neuroradiologic investigations showed an oval-shaped mass at the level of T10-T11. The patient underwent surgery, performed under neurophysiologic monitoring. The patient was operated on with complete removal of the lesion. The postoperative course was uneventful. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical, neuroradiologic, and intraoperative findings are presented, along with a review of the literature. Despite the number of lesions potentially compressing the spinal cord, IM schwannoma is rare but should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis.
BACKGROUND: Intramedullary (IM) schwannomas are rare entities representing 0.3%-1% of intramedullary tumors and 1.1% of spinal schwannomas. Beside many theories proposed, their rare occurrence might be related to the absence of Schwann cells in the spinal cord. Pediatric IM schwannomas are uncommon, and in the absence of neurofibromatosis they are extremely rare. To date, few cases have been reported in the literature. CASE DESCRIPTION: We describe the case of an 8-year-old female affected by a progressive paraparesis. Neuroradiologic investigations showed an oval-shaped mass at the level of T10-T11. The patient underwent surgery, performed under neurophysiologic monitoring. The patient was operated on with complete removal of the lesion. The postoperative course was uneventful. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical, neuroradiologic, and intraoperative findings are presented, along with a review of the literature. Despite the number of lesions potentially compressing the spinal cord, IM schwannoma is rare but should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis.
Authors: Matthew T Neal; Alexandra E Richards; Kara L Curley; Kliment Donev; Mark K Lyons; Maziyar A Kalani Journal: J Neurosurg Case Lessons Date: 2021-01-18
Authors: V M Swiatek; K-P Stein; H B Cukaz; A Rashidi; M Skalej; C Mawrin; I E Sandalcioglu; B Neyazi Journal: Neurosurg Rev Date: 2020-09-15 Impact factor: 3.042