title: Intramedullary plasma cell granuloma in the cervicothoracic spine. Case report.
abstract: Intraspinal plasma cell granuloma, which is a nonneoplastic entity, is extremely rare. To date, only four cases have been documented in the spinal meninges. The authors report the first case of a C7-T1 intramedullary plasma cell granuloma. After excision of the lesion, the patient's gait and bladder dysfunction improved. This plasma cell granuloma initially showed no delineated mass on T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images, low signal intensity on T2-weighted images, and was well enhanced after administration of gadolinium diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid. The latter MR imaging modality should help to detect this tumorous lesion. Histologically, the granuloma needs to be distinguished from lymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma and plasmacytoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. toshi-7@ra2.so-net.ne.jp
authors.forename: Toshimi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aizawa
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Yasuhisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Koshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Shoichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kokubun
mesh_terms: D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006104:Granuloma, Plasma Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery