title: Spinal intramedullary lipoma: report of three cases.
abstract: METHODS
  Case report.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To report three cases of spinal intramedullary lipoma seen in the last 10 years and present the clinical characteristics and surgical outcome of these cases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two patients were boys aged 12 years and 7 months, respectively. The other was a female patient aged 6 months. Chief complaints were hemiparesis, back swelling and thoracic scoliosis. All patients were diagnosed with magnetic resonance images. The lesion was located in the cervico-thoracic spine (foramen magnum to T1) in one case, thoracic spine (T9-T12) with the back swelling at L2-4 level in the second, and in the third, one mass extended from C6 to T11 and the other mass was located in the L1-2 level, separately.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All masses were removed subtotally and dysraphism was absent. Postoperatively, neurological status of the first and the second patient were unchanged, but in the third case weakness was transiently aggravated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intramedullary lipoma is a rare spinal lesion and multiple intramedullary lipoma is extremely rare. Treatment principle is surgical decompression before symptom progression. Laminoplastic laminotomy is an appropriate approach for decompression of an intramedullary lipoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Yongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Chi Heon
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyu-Chang
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Seung-Ki
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: You-Nam
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Yoon La
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Je G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Byung-Kyu
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008067:Lipoma / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*