Tracheal deviation from an atypical mediastinal mass

Giant chordoma of the upper thoracic spine with mediastinal involvement: a surgical challenge

Thoracic chordomas are very rare malignant tumours originating from notochordal remnants. These tumours develop within a vertebral body and enlarge involving the mediastinal compartment. Because of their slow-growing attitude, they become symptomatic only when they invade or compress the spinal cord and/or mediastinal organs. We present a rare case of a thoracic spine chordoma presenting with increasing paraparesis with a huge mediastinal component which was surgically debulked to decompress the spinal cord and medistinal organs.

Dedifferentiated chordoma of the thoracic spine with rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation. Report of a case and review of the literature

A case of spinal thoracic chordoma involving the T9 vertebra in a 70-year-old male patient, destroying the vertebral body and invading the vertebral canal with compression of the spinal cord, is presented. The patient was referred to our neurosurgical unit with a history of an irradiated metastatic adenocarcinoma to the thoracic vertebra, a diagnosis that was rendered 3 years earlier at another hospital on presentation. This misdiagnosis was likely due to the absolute rarity of thoracic vertebral chordomas (2%-3% of all chordomas), the higher frequency of metastatic deposits to the vertebrae from visceral cancers in the elderly, the limited amount of biopsy material available for histologic examination, and the epithelial phenotype of the tumor (keratin/EMA positive). The patient underwent second palliative surgery with subtotal piecemeal removal of the tumor bringing relief of the neurologic symptoms. The bulk of the tumor was represented by a high-grade pleomorphic sarcoma with adjacent areas of atypical chordoma. Small foci of conventional chordoma were also found. The previous histologic slides were also reviewed, which were consistent with the areas of atypical chordoma. Small targeted tissue fragments from areas of (atypical) chordoma and from sarcomatous areas were recovered for electron microscopy. The fine features of chordoma and focal rhabdomyoblastic differentiation were found with the latter retrospectively supported by immunohistochemical detection of striated muscle markers. A final diagnosis of dedifferentiated chordoma with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation was finally established. Rhabdomyoblastic metaplasia is a novelty in dedifferentiated chordoma. The patient died after 5 months. Autopsy was not requested.

Giant mediastinal chordoma

A chordoma is a slow-growing tumor representing about 5% of all malignant bone tumors. Mediastinal chordoma is very rare. We report a giant thoracic chordoma in a 32-year-old woman who presented with chest pain, progressive dyspnea, and cough. Open biopsy confirmed a definitive preoperative diagnosis, and complete surgical excision of the tumor was accomplished.