Torsion of a lumbar nerve root schwannoma.
We report a very rare case of a lumbar nerve root schwannoma presenting with torsion and infarction. The patient was a 16-year-old male presenting with severe low back pain and urinary retention following an aggressive game of hockey. Subsequent MRI of the lumbar spine revealed a nonenhancing lumbar intradural lesion at the level of L3. The patient was taken to the operating room where he underwent a bilateral L2 and L3 laminectomy and gross total resection of an intradural nerve root tumor, which appeared to have undergone torsion and infarction. Subsequent histopathological examination of the surgical specimen verified the diagnosis of infarcted schwannoma. This is a unique case of lumbar nerve root schwannoma, with atypical MRI findings, presenting with infarction due to torsion of the involved nerve root.
Khoshyomn
Sami
S
Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vt., USA.
Barth
Konrad N M
KN
Christman
Robert A
RA
Braff
Steven P
SP
Wilson
James T
JT
D000293:Adolescent; D006801:Humans; D008161:Lumbosacral Region; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D018317:Nerve Sheath Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014102:Torsion Abnormality