症例報告
著明な石灰化を伴った頸髄上衣腫の1例
キーワード:
intramedullary ependymoma,
calcification,
cervical spine,
laminoplasty,
peritumoral hemorrhage
2009 年 23 巻 2 号 p. 253-258
詳細
2009 年 23 巻 2 号 p. 253-258
Calcification is extremely rare in spinal ependymomas. We report a case of cervical intramedullary ependymoma with remarkable calcification.
A 45-year-old-male presented with weakness and muscle atrophy of his right upper extremity. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the cervical spine demonstrated a slightly enhanced solid lesion at the level of C4-5 with a large multilobulated cystic lesion from C2 through C6. Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a distinct calcification at the caudal and right side of the solid lesion. The patient underwent C3-7 open-door laminoplasty, and the tumor was totally removed. The histopathological diagnosis was cellular ependymoma with psammoma bodies.
Tumor cysts, syrinx and hemorrhage are common in spinal ependymomas. Whereas calcification occurs far less frequently in spinal ependymomas than in intracranial ependymomas. Our case and previously reported cases suggest that calcifications tend to occur in the rim of the cervical ependymomas. We hypothesize that the cause of the calcification is calcium deposition in previous occult peritumoral hemorrhage.
