title: Spinal cord compression from a thoracic paraganglioma: case report.
abstract: A 34-year-old man with a 4-month history of midthoracic back pain sought treatment for a recent onset of lower extremity paresthesia and stiffness. A myelogram and computed tomographic myelogram disclosed an extradural block at the level of the 8th thoracic vertebral body with involvement of the pedicles, lamina, and spinous process. A posterior decompression of the spinal cord with subtotal resection of a highly vascular tumor was performed. The tumor was identified as a paraganglioma. In a second stage, the remainder of the tumor was embolized preoperatively, and gross total excision and sequential stabilization of the spine with a Luque rectangle and sublaminar wires were performed. The patient has been symptom free and without signs of a recurrence in the spine for over 13 months. A large abdominal paraganglioma was recently resected from its probable origin from the adventitia of the abdominal aorta.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Cybulski
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nijensohn
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Brody
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010235:Paraganglioma / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000209:etiology*; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy