Spinal cord Ewing's sarcoma metastasis: presentation of one case

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia arising after treatment of Ewing sarcoma was misdiagnosed as bone marrow metastasis of Ewing sarcoma: A case report

RATIONALE

Both acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and Ewing sarcoma (ES) are small round cell tumors, and it is difficult to differential diagnose them because of overlapping clinical, radiographic, histologic, and immunophenotypic features.

PATIENT'S CONCERNS

A 5-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital because of pains in his left leg without obvious inducement and lameness worsening with walking over a two 2-month period.

DIAGNOSES

Based on the comprehensive analysis of radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), pathology biopsy and immunohistochemistry, the lesion was confirmed to be ES.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient received neoadjuvant chemotherapy with 2 cycles of VAC (vincristine 1 mg/m, adriamycin 50 mg/m, cyclophosphamide 800 mg/m) and 2 cycles of IE (ifosfamide 1.2 g/m, etoposide 70 mg/m, mesna 1.2 g/m) regimens.

OUTCOMES

After 16 months, the results of routine blood tests showed reduced hemoglobin levels and decreased platelet counts. In addition, blast-like cells were found in a peripheral blood smear. All of the results suggested that the patient should undergo bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, which showed blast-like cells similar to that observed in cases of ES. Thus, a diagnosis of bone marrow metastasis of ES was established. However, when combined with immunohistochemistry data and medical history, the patient was eventually diagnosed as ALL arising after treatment of ES.

LESSONS

When there was an abnormality in peripheral blood, it was easily misdiagnosed as bone marrow metastasis of ES after ES patient received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. We should jointly analyze bone marrow aspiration smear, bone marrow biopsy, immunohistochemistry, analysis of the medical history, even cytogenetic and molecular analysis for differential diagnosis.

Primary Osteosarcoma of the Rib Identified on Bone Scintigraphy

Osteosarcomas generally arise in appendicular skeletons, but rarely in the ribs. We described Tc-MDP bone scan findings from a 23-year-old man with right back pain. The images demonstrated elevated activity in the region overlapping the posterior 8th to 10th ribs and in the L9-10 vertebral bodies. CT showed an 8.8 × 8.3 cm mildly peripherally calcified mass arising from the right 10th rib involving the 9th and 10th thoracic vertebrae. Pathological examination confirmed primary osteosarcoma of the rib.

Spinal intradural metastasis from scapular Ewing sarcoma

Background

Ewing sarcoma is a primary bone neoplasm, which is a high grade aggressive small round blue cell tumour, and is currently recognized as a part of the Ewing family of tumours. It is the most lethal bone tumor, and is a rare malignant bone tumor accounting for 10% of all primary bone tumors, and 6% of malignant bone tumors. It has an average annual incidence of 3 per 1 million, found almost exclusively in Caucasians. It commonly occurs in long bones and pelvis but rarely involves the scapula. 85% of cases have metastasis within 2 years of diagnosis, rarely involving the meninges.

Case presentation

We report a case of a 25 year old Sinhalese Sri Lankan female, presenting with a 1 day history of bilateral lower limb weakness and urinary incontinence. She had a sensory level with flaccid paralysis of lower limbs and a painless bony lump in the left dorsal scapula. Investigations showed scapular primary Ewing sarcoma giving rise to spinal intradural metastasis. For the best of our knowledge this is the first reported case of a scapular Ewing sarcoma with spinal intradural metastasis presenting with lower limb paralysis.

Conclusion

Intradural spinal metastasis of Ewing sarcoma presenting with lower limb weakness, without a history of pain, though rarely, can be the first presentation, and can rapidly progress to brainstem involvement and death.

A Unique Case of Primary Ewing's Sarcoma of the Cervical Spine in a 53-Year-Old Male: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma (EES) is a rare presentation, representing only 15% of all primary Ewing's sarcoma cases. Even more uncommon is EES presenting as a primary focus in the spinal canal. These rapidly growing tumors often present with focal neurological symptoms of myelopathy or radiculopathy. There are no classic characteristic imaging findings and thus the physician must keep a high index of clinical suspicion. Diagnosis can only be definitively made by histopathological studies. In this report, we discuss a primary cervical spine EES in a 53-year-old man who presented with a two-month history of left upper extremity pain and acute onset of weakness. Imaging revealed a cervical spinal canal mass. After undergoing cervical decompression, histopathological examination confirmed a diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma. A literature search revealed fewer than 25 reported cases of primary cervical spine EES published in the past 15 years and only one report demonstrating this pathology in a patient older than 30 years of age (age = 38). Given the low incidence of this pathology presenting in this age group and the lack of treatment guidelines, each patient's plan should be considered on a case-by-case basis until further studies are performed to determine optimal evidence based treatment.