Spinal angiolipoma--case report

Thoracic Spinal Angiolipomas: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

 Spinal angiolipomas (SAs) are rare, benign tumors, representing 0.0004 to 1.2% of angiolipomas, usually located at the extradural and posterior thoracic level, with multimetameric extension.

METHODS

 A systematic literature review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The authors searched on PubMed and Scopus databases for published articles with the Mesh term "spinal angiolipoma" and pertinent associations. Language restriction to English papers was applied. The authors also reported three emblematic cases of patients who underwent surgical resection of spindle-shaped (type IA) and dumbbell-shaped (type II) SAs between 2014 and 2020.

RESULTS

 Of the 256 retrieved articles, 33 were included in the meta-analysis. These 33 studies, together with our 3 reported cases, included a total of 60 patients, 36 females (60%) and 24 males (40%), with a mean age of 53.12 ± 12.82 years (range: 12-77 years).T5 was the most represented level (22 patients). Usually, the localization of SA was extradural, with 53 patients suffering from spindle-shaped type IA SA (88.3%) and 7 patients from dumbbell-shaped type II SA (11.6%). Almost all patients underwent laminectomy (78.3%) and presented a full recovery of motor deficits (85%). Gross total removal (GTR) was performed in 93.3% of patients. The mean follow-up was of 22.71 ± 21.45 months (range: 2-80 months). There was no documented recurrence at follow-up magnetic resonance imaging in any of the patients.

CONCLUSIONS

 SAs are rare, benign tumors with a great vascular component that presents a favorable outcome. GTR is the gold standard treatment and usually an adjuvant therapy is not required. Even infiltrative lesions, which are more complex, can be treated successfully with a good prognosis. Dumbbell-shaped SAs must be differentiated from schwannomas and meningiomas, and require different surgical techniques, given the profuse bleeding associated with the attempt of debulking. En block resection is the key to treat these common benign tumors with acceptable blood loss.

Microsurgical treatment for spinal epidural angiolipomas

Spinal epidural angiolipomas are rare lesions composed of mature lipomatous and angiomatous elements. In this paper, the authors review a surgical series of ten patients with epidural angiolipomas. All patients had performed preoperative and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging. The diagnosis of angiolipoma was based on pathology. All the follow-up data were obtained during office visits. There were 5 males and 5 females with a mean age of 53.6 years. One tumor was located in the cervicothoracic, six in the thoracic, and three in the lumbar spine. The most common symptom was progressive motor deficit. Gross total resection of the tumor was achieved in nine cases, and subtotal resection was obtained in one case. No recurrence or regrowth of the residual tumor was observed during a follow-up period of 50.8 months. At the last follow-up, 90% of patients experienced improvement in the neurological function. Epidural angiolipomas are benign but clinically progressive lesions. Early surgery should be performed to prevent irreversible neurological deficits. Postoperative radiotherapy is not recommended. The risk of long-term recurrence/regrowth of the lesions is low, and a good clinical outcome after total or subtotal removal can be expected.

Spinal angiolipoma-a rare but reversible cause of paraplegia in a child

PURPOSE

Spinal angiolipomas are benign spinal epidural tumors consisting of mature fat cells with angiomatous components. These tumors are rare in children and there are no definite management guidelines.

METHOD

To the best of our knowledge, only five cases of spinal angiolipomas have been reported in children below 12 years. This article discusses the presentation, diagnostics, and surgical tips for the management of a case of spinal angiolipoma.

RESULT

In this paper, we present a one and half-year-old child presenting with a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma from a spinal angiolipoma and underscore the importance of early surgery in a benign disease for a good outcome.

CONCLUSION

Overall neurological recovery and prognosis following timely intervention for spinal angiolipomas are good.

Sacral Extradural Angiolipoma Associated with Tight Filum Terminale and Spina Bifida Coexisting with Spinal Arteriovenous Fistula

BACKGROUND

Spinal arteriovenous fistula (AVF) may rarely associate with spinal dysraphism, that is, tethered spinal cord and spinal intradural lipoma. Spinal extradural angiolipoma coexisting with spinal AVF has not been reported in the literature. We reported an extremely rare case of sacral angiolipoma associated with tight filum terminale and sacral spina bifida coexisting with spinal AVF within this tumor.

CASE DESCRIPTION

A 55-year-old women presented with progressive myelopathy for 10 months. She had a painless, slow-growing mass at her left buttock since birth. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbosacral spine showed an extradural mass at the level of S3-S4, extending from the spinal canal through the spina bifida to the subcutaneous fat of the left buttock. There was a low conus medullaris at S2. Magnetic resonance imaging of the thoracic spine disclosed venous congestion with tortuous intradural flow voids along both ventral and dorsal surfaces of the spinal cord. Magnetic resonance angiography and spinal angiography revealed a hypervascular mass at the sacral level and associated arteriovenous shunt with cranial drainage into an enlarged medullary vein. Due to an infected pressure sore on the mass, endovascular treatment was initially performed with minimal recovery. Six months after complete healing of her infected pressure ulcer, the patient underwent surgical removal of extradural mass containing the AVF, and subsequent release of the tight filum. Histologic findings were consistent with angiolipoma.

CONCLUSIONS

Sacral extradural angiolipoma in the present case may be congenital in origin with development of an acquired spinal AVF within the tumor.

Epidural spinal angiolipoma: a case series

Background

Spinal angiolipomas (SAL) are rare benign tumors, commonly presenting with slow progressive spinal cord compression. There are only about 170 cases identified so far. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the modality of choice for SAL. The purpose of this article is to report three cases of SAL and their characteristic MRI features.

Case presentation

Three cases of epidual spinal angiolipoma from ethnic Han Chinese patients are presented here, including one lumbar and two thoracic tumors. MRI imaging findings were reviewed.

Conclusions

Multiple MRI technology for characterization of SAL provides useful information for differential diagnosis and therapeutic management.

Spinal angiolipomas: A puzzling case and review of a rare entity

Patients with spinal epidural abscesses (SEAs) may have a variable presentation. Such an infection has a typical appearance on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and enhances with gadolinium. We present a case that was a diagnostic challenge where pre- and intra-operative findings resulted in conflicting impressions. The mimicker was a spinal angiolipoma (SAL). The authors then provide a thorough review of this rare spinal neoplasm. A 55-year-old man presented with back pain, paresis, paresthesia, and urinary retention. MRI was indicative of a longitudinal epidural thoracic mass with a signal homogeneous to nearby fat, curvilinear vessels, and lack of enhancement. Although at emergent surgery, the lesion was found to contain abundant purulent material. Microbiology was positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and consistent with SEA without evidence of neoplasia. While the imaging features were suggestive of an angiolipoma, the findings at surgery made SEA more likely, which were validated histopathologically. The diagnosis of SEA is often clear-cut, and the literature has reported only a few instances in which it masqueraded as another process such as lymphoma or myelitis. The case highlights SEA masquerading as an angiolipoma, and further demonstrates to clinicians that obtaining tissue diagnosis plays a crucial role diagnostically and therapeutically. SALs, on the other hand, are slow-growing tumors that can be infiltrating or noninfiltrating. They typically present with chronic symptoms and T1-MRI shows an inhomogeneous picture. Complete surgical excision is standard of care and patients tend to do well afterward.

Thoracic epidural spinal angiolipoma with coexisting lumbar spinal stenosis: Case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Spinal angiolipomas (SALs) are uncommon benign lesions that may present insidiously with back pain or acutely with weakness due to tumor bleeding/thrombosis. Given their rarity, these lesions are often overlooked in the differential diagnosis of epidural masses. The purpose of this article is to report the case of an epidural SAL and to conduct a literature review on the topic.

METHODS

A case report and review of the literature using the PubMed/Medline databases. All case reports and case series were reviewed up to June 2015.

RESULTS

A 65-year old female presented with neurogenic claudication and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed lumbar spinal stenosis. Following decompressive surgery, she experienced symptom resolution, but three months postoperatively she presented to the emergency department with acute paraparesis. A thoracic MRI revealed a lesion located between T8 and T10 causing severe spinal cord compression. Following emergent laminectomy and en bloc resection, the patient regained function and the lesion was diagnosed as SAL. Our literature review revealed 178 reported cases, with a female and thoracic predominance. The majority of patients underwent surgical treatment, achieving a gross total resection in most cases. Similarly, complete symptom resolution was the most common outcome.

CONCLUSION

Spinal angiolipomas are uncommon spinal tumors. However, they may be treated as any other space-occupying lesion, and surgical resection allows for complete symptom recovery in most patients.

Four cases of spinal epidural angiolipoma

Spinal angiolipomas are uncommon benign tumours composed of mature fatty tissue and abnormal vascular elements, most commonly found within the posterior spinal epidural space. Most tumours are located within the mid-thoracic spine; in contrast thoracolumbar junction and purely lumbar angiolipomas are rare. We report a case series of four spinal angiolipomas, including a thoracolumbar junction and a purely lumbar tumour.

Spinal cavernous extradural angiolipoma manifesting as a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma in a child

INTRODUCTION

Angiolipomas are benign tumors usually manifested as subcutaneous nodules. Rarely they may form spinal extradural masses. These spinal cavernous angiolipomas have mostly been described in adults.

DIAGNOSIS

To our knowledge, spinal cavernous angiolipomas have been reported in nine pediatric patients.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION

In this paper, we present a 1-year-old child presenting with a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma from a spinal cavernous angiolipoma and highlight the importance of conducting a histopathological analysis of spontaneous hematomas in previously healthy children.

Spinal angiolipoma: etiology, imaging findings, classification, treatment, and prognosis

PURPOSE

To summarise our experience treating patients with spinal angiolipomas (SAs) and to evaluate factors relating to its prognosis.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients diagnosed with SAs who received surgical treatment from January 2001 to February 2013.

RESULTS

Twenty-one patients were described. We divide SAs into two types: "intraspinal" and "dumbbell-shaped". The former were further subclassified as "with lipomatosis" and "without lipomatosis". Overweight people are more likely to get the "with lipomatosis" type which needs different surgical strategy and/or a diet therapy to get better outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Diagnosis of SAs should be made with reference to clinical, radiological, and pathological findings. Application of different methods is needed to treat SAs.

Thoracolumbar spinal angiolipoma demonstrating high signal on STIR imaging: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Angiolipomas are rare benign tumors, accounting for 0.14% to 1.2% of all tumors of the spinal axis with vascular and fatty histological features. Spinal angiolipoma (SAL) is most commonly found in the thoracic region and has high signal on contrast enhanced fat-saturated T1-weighted imaging. Although the international literature is extensive, there are few cases reported in United States.

OBJECTIVE

To present a case of SAL located in the thoracolumbar region without high signal on contrast enhanced fat-saturated T1-weighted imaging and to review previously reported cases.

STUDY DESIGN/METHODS

Case report and review the literature.

RESULTS

Magnetic resonance imaging obtained in a 68-year-old man with a long history of lumbago showed a heterogeneous mass (T10-L1) hyperintense on T1-weighted imaging but not enhancing on suppression fat sequences, suggesting epidural hematoma. Surgical excision of the lesion was performed, and SAL was diagnosed and confirmed by pathology. The patient became asymptomatic.

CONCLUSIONS

The predominance of either vascular or fatty components inside the tumor might alter the expected results on magnetic resonance imaging with suppression fat sequences.

Thoracic epidural angiolipoma: A case report and review of the literature

Angiolipoma of the spine is a benign neoplasm consisting of both mature fatty tissue and abnormal vascular elements, and usually presents with a slow progressive clinical course. Our patient presented with bilateral lower extremity weakness and chest-back numbness. Physical examination revealed adipose elements superficial hypesthesia below the T5 level and analgesia below the T6 level. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed an avidly and heterogeneously enhancing mass which was located in the posterior epidural space. Compression of the thoracic cord by the fusiform mass was seen between T3-T4. During the operation, a flesh pink vascular mass (4.7 cm × 1.0 cm × 1.0 cm) with obscure margin and strong but pliable texture was found in the posterior epidural space extending from T3 to T4. There was no infiltration of the dura or the adjacent bony spine. Histopathological study of the surgical specimen showed a typical angiolipoma. We review the previously documented cases of spinal extradural angiolipomas performed with MRI.