Primary spinal extra-osseous intradural mesenchymal chondrosarcoma in a young boy

Clinical diagnostic and radiographic features of a primary intradural spinal chondrosarcoma in a young adult: illustrative case

BACKGROUND

Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma (MCS) is an aggressive subtype of chondrosarcoma that occurs extremely rarely in the central nervous system. Patients often present with pain or sensorimotor deficits, and resection is considered the gold standard. The role of adjuvant radiation and/or chemotherapy is largely unknown.

OBSERVATIONS

A 22-year-old male presented with a 4-month history of progressive back and bilateral leg pain. He underwent imaging workup with magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine and was found to have an intradural, extramedullary, heterogeneously enhancing mass spanning the L4-5 vertebral levels. Intraoperatively, a lobular, partially calcified mass with a ventral dural attachment displacing the nerve roots laterally was observed. The mass was removed en bloc, and the patient later underwent adjuvant radiotherapy, with no evidence of recurrence 2 years following surgery.

LESSONS

Spinal MCS is extremely rare and often presents with a more aggressive course than conventional chondrosarcoma. Radiological diagnosis is challenging, as the tumor mimics different pathologies. The presence of calcifications, heterogeneous enhancement, and a more rapid clinical course as well as the presence of HEY1::NCOA2 gene fusion, which can be detected by surrogate immunohistochemistry, aids in diagnosis. Resection is the standard of care, and adjuvant radiation may be considered to reduce local recurrence, although further studies are warranted.

Primary intradural extramedullary spinal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma: case report and literature review

Background

Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma (MCS) is a rare malignant variant of chondrosarcoma with a high tendency of recurrence and metastasis. Intradural extramedullary spinal MCS is exceedingly rare and usually found in pediatric patients. Herein, we present an elderly patient with primary intradural extramedullary spinal MCS. Relevant literatures are reviewed to disclose characteristics of intradural extramedullary spinal MCS.

Case presentation

A 64-year-old female presented with urinary difficulty and tightness of upper back preceding progressive weakness of right lower extremity. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradural extramedullary tumor at the level of 3rd thoracic vertebra. This patient underwent total tumor resection and then received adjuvant radiotherapy. Histopathological examination showed that the tumor composed of spindle and round cells with high nucleocytoplasmic ratio accompanied by scattered eosinophilic chondroid matrix. Along with immunohistochemical findings and the existence of HEY1-NCOA2 fusion transcript, the diagnosis of MCS was confirmed. Neurologic deficit recovered nearly completely after surgery. No evidence of local recurrence or distant metastasis was found 5 years after treatments. Including the current case, a total of 18 cases have been reported in the literature with only one case with local recurrence and one case of mortality. The current case was the eldest patient diagnosed with primary intraspinal MCS in the literature.

Conclusions

MCS rarely appears in the intradural space of the spine. In contrast to classic MCS, treatment outcome of primary intradural extramedullary spinal MCS is usually excellent as total tumor resection is commonly achievable. Adjuvant radiotherapy may reduce local recurrence and chemotherapy may be associated with fewer recurrences especially for unresectable tumors.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12891-019-2799-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Intraspinal Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma: Report of a Pediatric Case and Literature Review

Purpose

Mesenchymal chondrosarcoma (MCS) is an aggressive variant of chondrosarcoma and is a rare tumor, particularly within the pediatric population. Commonly, MCS originates in the bone, but it can also arise in extraskeletal sites, such as the brain and the intraspinal area. Due to the rarity of this tumor, there are no guidelines for its optimal treatment.

Methods

We report a case of intradural extra medullary MCS, located at the T11–T12 level, in a 14-year-old male. The tumor was documented by magnetic resonance imaging and treated with gross total resection (GTR) without adjuvant treatment. We further reviewed the relevant pediatric literature and discussed the management and outcome of intracranial and intraspinal MCS.

Results

The patient's follow-up showed no evidence of disease 2 years from diagnosis. A total of 51 cases of intracranial and intraspinal MCS have been reported (24 intraspinal and 27 intracranial). Recurrence has been described in only 4 patients with intraspinal MSC, and among them 3 received adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. GTR seems to reduce the risk of recurrence and, due to a higher cancer-mortality rate for these patients, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy are recommended in case aggressive surgery is not possible.

Conclusions

According to our single experience, we would suggest that adjuvant therapy might be unnecessary in cases where a localized MCS undergoes GTR. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy should be recommended when GTR cannot be obtained. Further studies are needed to investigate a standard treatment approach for this rare tumor.