title: Paraganglioma of the lumbar spinal canal -- case report.
abstract: We present the case of a 46-year-old female with a lumbar spine paraganglioma. The patient complained of a right-sided lumboischialgia. Preoperative MRI revealed an intradural tumour at the vertebra L3 level, located in the midline, 7 mm in diameter. The tumour was totally removed by laminectomy. Histopathological examination showed nests of chief cells (zellballen), surrounded by reticulin fibres. Immunohistochemistry showed a positive reaction for chromogranin A, neuronal specific protein, synaptophysin and cytokeratin in the chief cells. The sustentacular cells displayed immunopositivity for S-100 protein, single cells were also positive for GFAP. We found no proliferative activity in the tumour cells (Ki-67 index = 0%). In the two years follow-up the patient remains without clinical or radiological signs of recurrence. Spinal paraganglioma is a rare, surgically curable tumour with low proliferative potential. This entity should be taken into consideration in the differential diagnosis of extramedullary spinal lesions.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery and Neurotraumatology, Al. Legionów 10, 41-902 Bytom, Poland. slovy@mp.pl
authors: Jerzy
authors: J
authors: Słowiński
authors: Monika
authors: M
authors: Stomal
authors: Grazyna
authors: G
authors: Bierzyńska-Macyszyn
authors: Kazimierz
authors: K
authors: Swider
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008161:Lumbosacral Region; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D010235:Paraganglioma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery