Intradural extramedullary hemangioblastoma

Intradural Extramedullary Hemangioblastoma of the Cervical Spine: Case Report and Literature Review

Hemangioblastomas are uncommon in the spine, accounting for less than 3% of all spinal cord tumors and occurring even more rarely in the intradural extramedullary vicinity. We present a unique case report of an intradural extramedullary hemangioblastoma. A 62-year-old man presented with a five-month history of neck pain radiating to the left arm. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the cervical spine revealed a left paracentral contrast-enhancing intradural extramedullary lesion at the C4-C5 level. Surgical options were discussed, and surgery was performed via a posterolateral approach. The lateral masses and facets at the C4 and C5 levels were drilled and the tumor was encountered ventral to the spinal cord. There were multiple nerve roots adherent to the tumor capsule. The tumor was highly vascularized. Analysis revealed a highly vascular lesion with vacuolated tumor cells, positive for inhibin and S100 stains, consistent with a diagnosis of hemangioblastoma. The patient remains intact throughout the post-operative period. Few studies have reported intradural extramedullary spinal hemangioblastomas and purely extramedullary spinal hemangioblastomas of the neuraxis are far less common. Most cases occur in the Japanese population and in patients over the age of 50. By location, extramedullary hemangioblastomas involving the thoracic spine occur in women, while those occurring in men are restricted to the cervical spine or conus medullaris. Complete resection remains the treatment of choice.

Primary Intradural Extramedullary Sporadic Spinal Hemangioblastomas: Case Report and Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Hemangioblastomas are benign vascular neoplasms of the central nervous system that may occur sporadically or in association with Von Hippel-Lindau disease. A minority of these lesions can occur in the spine, mostly as intramedullary masses. The authors present a rare case of primary sporadic spinal hemangioblastoma occurring as an intradural extramedullary (IDEM) lesion. Diagnostic workup and surgical management of the patient are described.

METHODS

A systematic MEDLINE search was conducted using the keywords "hemangioblastoma" and "intradural extramedullary," "extramedullary," or "cauda equina." Clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes of the present case were reviewed and compared with those in the literature.

RESULTS

A 72-year-old man was found to have an IDEM lesion in his cervical spine after presenting with neck and shoulder pain. Gross total resection was successfully performed with sacrifice of an involved dorsal nerve rootlet. Screening for Von Hippel-Lindau was negative. Thirty-three additional patients with sporadic IDEM hemangioblastomas are reported in the literature. There was a slight male preponderance (54%) with a median age of 52 years. Patients presented with pain (54%), radiculopathy (33%), or myelopathy (32%). The majority of lesions were located in the lumbosacral spine (56%). All patients underwent maximal safe resection with stable or improved clinical status.

CONCLUSION

Primary IDEM hemangioblastomas are a rare entity. Differential diagnosis includes other IDEM lesions, such as schwannomas, meningiomas, or some vascular malformations. Resection of these sporadic tumors can be safely performed and result in improvement of neurologic deficits associated with mass effect from the tumor with low likelihood of recurrence.

Intradural, extramedullary hemangioblastoma at the level of the conus medullaris: illustrative case

BACKGROUND

Hemangioblastomas are rare, slow-growing, and highly vascularized tumors that typically occur in the cerebellum and spinal cord. The cervical and thoracic regions are the most common spinal sites, and the tumors are usually intramedullary.

OBSERVATIONS

The authors report the case of a man whose chest computed tomography performed for managing coronavirus disease 2019 incidentally revealed an enhancing area in the spinal canal at T12–L1. The patient reported low back pain as well as leg numbness and tingling. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar region with and without gadolinium contrast demonstrated an intradural, extramedullary lesion with displacement of the conus medullaris. The differential diagnosis included a schwannoma and myxopapillary ependymoma. Bilateral T12–L1 laminectomies were performed with resection of the mass. The general pathologist rendered the frozen section diagnosis of a spindle cell neoplasm, suggesting the differential diagnosis of schwannoma or myxopapillary ependymoma. Immunohistochemistry was positive for inhibin, GFAP, reticulin, CD31, SOX-10, S100, and EMA. A World Health Organization grade 1 hemangioblastoma was confirmed.

LESSONS

Spinal surgeons should be cognizant of the presenting symptoms and differential diagnosis of hemangioblastomas at the level of the conus medullaris, especially when the tumor is diagnosed incidentally. Additional investigations should be performed to determine whether von Hippel-Lindau syndrome is associated with the hemangioblastoma, as this combination portends a different clinical presentation, multiple tumor locations, and tumor recurrence following resection.

Dumbbell-Shaped Extramedullary Hemangioblastoma of the Thoracic Spine as a Diagnostic Dilemma of Solitary Fibrous Tumor

Introduction

Extramedullary hemangioblastoma is a very rare entity that has been rarely reported in the literature.

Case Presentation

A 17-year-old female presented with limping that rapidly progressed to paraparesis and urine incontinence over a one-month duration. Clinically, she had a small swelling on her spine. There was a diagnostic challenge when an enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested dumbbell – shaped intradural extramedullary mass in the lower thoracic spine, hypointense on T1 and hyperintense on T2 sequences and heterointense on post contrast sequence. The radiologic differentials were pictures of nerve sheath tumors. However, histopathological examination of en bloc excisional biopsy showed hemangioblastoma with a differential of solitary fibrous tumor. Complete excision of the mass was done intraoperatively and the patient improved clinically.

Conclusion

Contrast-enhanced MRI and histopathologic correlation are important for evaluating these rare tumors.

Long-term outcome of treatment of vertebral body hemangiomas with direct ethanol injection and short-segment stabilization

BACKGROUND

Vertebral body hemangiomas with myelopathy are difficult to manage.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of intraoperative ethanol embolization, surgical decompression, and instrumented short-segment fusion in vertebral hemangioma (VH) with myelopathy and long-term outcome (>24 months).

CLINICAL MATERIALS AND METHODS

This prospective study included symptomatic VH with cord compression with myelopathy. Pathologic fractures and deformity or multilevel pathologies were excluded from the study. Surgery consisted of intraoperative bilateral pedicular absolute alcohol (<1% hydrated ethyl alcohol) injection, laminectomy, and cord decompression at the level of pathology followed by a short-segment instrumented fusion using pedicle screws.

RESULTS

The study included 33 patients (mean 26.9±13.2, range: 10-68 years, 18 females). The clinical features of the study were myelopathy in all patients (5 paraplegic), sphincter involvement (13), and mid back or lower back pain (7). The preoperative American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) scores were A (7), B (11), C (6), D (8), and E (1). Majority of the patients had single vertebral involvement (30) and three patients had multiple-level involvement. Six patients underwent surgery earlier (one underwent alcohol embolization). The mean surgical time was 124±39 minutes, and the average blood loss was 274±80 cc. The mean amount of absolute alcohol injected was 14.6±5.7 cc (two patients required 20 and 25 cc). Immediate embolization was achieved in all patients, allowing laminectomy and easy removal of soft-tissue hemangioma. Post surgery, one patient had transient deterioration, and the condition of the rest of the patients improved (sphincters improved in nine patients) at a follow-up ranging 28-103 months (mean 47.6±22.3). Follow-up ASIA scores were E (26), D (4), B (2), and C (1). All patients showed evidence of bone sclerosis and relief of cord compression on follow-up imaging.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the largest study in literature showing excellent improvement, low reoperation rates after ethanol embolization, and short-segment fixation.

Relationship between Spinal Hemangioblastoma Location and Age

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective case series.

PURPOSE

To investigate the relationship between tumor location and clinical characteristics.

OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE

Hemangioblastoma is a rare disease that develops in the central nervous system. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful to evaluate hemangioblastomas. Hemangioblastoma's location is designated as intramedullary, intramedullary+extramedullary, or extramedullary by MRI.

METHODS

We analyzed 11 patients who underwent surgery for spinal hemangioblastoma. Using T1 contrast axial MRI data, the cases were divided into three groups (intramedullary, intramedullary+extramedullary, and extramedullary). Patient demographics, MRI findings, and preoperative neurological status were analyzed and compared for each group.

RESULTS

The average age of patients with intramedullary, intramedullary+extramedullary, and extramedullary hemangioblastoma was 34.0, 64.4, and 67.5 years, respectively. Patients in the intramedullary hemangioblastoma group were younger than the other groups. Extramedullary cases had a smaller syrinx compared to the other groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Age may play an important role in the hemangioblastoma tumor location and the subsequent diagnosis by an MRI.

Intradural Intramedullary Mixed Type Hemangioma: Optimizing the Surgical Management through Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring

Intradural intramedullary mixed type hemangioma is a rare histotype of primary spinal cord tumors, though it can carry a severe clinical burden leading to limb dysfunction or motor and sensory disturbances. Timely intervention with radical resection is the hallmark of treatment but achieving it is not an easy task even for experienced neurosurgeons. We herein present an exemplificative case presenting with sudden paraplegia in which total resection was achieved under intraoperative neurophysiology monitoring. A thorough discussion on the operative technique and the role of neuromonitoring in allowing a safe surgical management of primary spinal cord tumors is presented.

Differentiation of localization of spinal hemangioblastomas based on imaging and pathological findings

Intramedullary + extramedullary hemangioblastomas with largely extramedullary growth are rare and often incorrectly assigned as intradural-extramedullary tumors preoperatively. Preoperative evaluation of the precise tumor location is important for total resection of tumor and improving the surgical outcome. The aim of this study was to provide the first identification of the key differences among of preoperative MR images of hemangioblastomas in different locations and to correlate these with pathological findings. The subjects were 26 patients with surgery for spinal hemangioblastoma in our department, including 6 with an intramedullary tumor who were complicated with von Hippel Lindau disease. Intramedullary, intramedullary + extramedullary, and intradural-extramedullary tumors were present in 22, 3 and 1 cases, respectively. Sagittal MR images showed that intramedullary and intramedullary + extramedullary tumors gave intramedullary T2 high intensity areas (HIAs) spreading toward the craniocaudal sides of the tumor, whereas such findings were absent for the intradural-extramedullary tumor. All the tumors showed strong contrast on axial images, with focal enhancement of hemangioblastomas limited to the intramedullary region (focal type); smooth boundary lines between the spinal cord and the extramedullary tumor (smooth type); and a snowman sign for intramedullary + extramedullary tumors, which provided a key characteristic for differentiating intramedullary + extramedullary tumors from those limited to the extramedullary region. In pathological findings, the Ki67 activity was less than 1% for intramedullary and intradural-extramedullary tumors, but 18-25% in all cases with an intramedullary + extramedullary tumor. In conclusion, on preoperative MRI, a change in the intramedullary HIAs spreading the craniocaudal sides of the tumor on sagittal T2 weighted image (T2WI) and a snowman sign on contrast axial T1WI may be important for differentiation among spinal hemangioblastomas in different locations. Pathologically, we found that intramedullary + extramedullary hemangioblastoma has high cell proliferative activity, which may suggest that enlargement of this tumor occurs faster than that of intramedullary hemangioblastoma.