title: Mild gait abnormality and leg discomfort in a child secondary to extradural ganglioneuroma.
abstract: Ganglioneuromas are benign and slow-growing tumors that most commonly originate from the sympathetic trunk. Ganglioneuromas often decrease in size and rarely require reoperation. Changes in gait or the onset of limb pain without a discernible local cause are indications for investigation of patients for possible intraspinal pathology. We report the case of a 5-year-old boy who presented with seemingly static symptoms, while the slow-growing tumor had enveloped nerve roots and caused bone destruction of the vertebrae.
authors.affiliation: Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Skaggs
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Codsi
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Moral
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Masso
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D018450:Disease Progression; D015174:Epidural Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D005684:Gait; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic; D005729:Ganglioneuroma / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D013123:Spinal Fusion; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed