Hemangioblastoma of the Cauda Equina – a Case Report

Czech version

Authors: D. Bludovský ¹; V. Runt ¹; M. Choc ¹; M. Michal ²; J. Kastner ³
Authors‘ workplace: LF UK a FN Plzeň Neurochirurgické oddělení ¹; LF UK a FN Plzeň Šiklův patologicko-anatomický ústav ²; LF UK a FN Plzeň Klinika zobrazovacích metod ³
Published in: Cesk Slov Neurol N 2010; 73/106(5): 552-554
Category: Case Report

Overview

Hemangioblastomas are rare lesions, accounting for 1–5% of all spinal cord tumors. Seventy-five per cent of them are intramedullary. Lesions of the conus medullaris and the cauda equina are sporadic and typical in von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. We describe the case of a 58-year-old man presenting with radicular pain. Magnetic resonance images revealed a hyperintense tumor of the cauda equina. Surgical intervention consisted of an L2 laminectomy and complete en-bloc resection of a reddish-brown, highly vascular lesion. Histopathological study identified it as a hemangioblastoma. Von Hippel-Lindau disease was not proven. The patient is without pain or radicular lesion and without tumor recurrence two years after operation. Although cauda equina hemangioblastoma is a rare cause of lumobischialgia and radiculopathy, we should bear it in mind as a possibility, especially when neurological findings are not typical.

Key words:
hemangioblastoma – cauda equina – von Hippel-Lindau syndrome

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