Paediatric intramedullary spinal cord cavernous malformations: case report and review of the literature.
Cavernous malformations are vascular lesions which can occur throughout the entire neuraxis. This term is synonymous to cavernous angioma, cavernous haemangioma, and cavernoma. They comprise of closely packed, capillary-like vascular channels, without intervening neural tissue. MR imaging is currently the study of choice for the diagnosis of cavernous malformations as they are considered angiographically occult lesions. Intramedullary location represents only 3-5% of all central nervous system cavernous malformations, with the majority of them being supratentorial. Only 10% of the intramedullary cavernous malformations present in the paediatric population. As the natural history of these lesions is not well known, the debate on the optimal management of them is still ongoing. Here we describe the case of a 14-year-old male with progression of symptoms over an 18 months period, which necessitated microsurgical removal of a T9 intramedullary cavernous malformation.
Kolias
Angelos G
AG
Department of Neurosurgery, Leeds General Infirmary, Great George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 3EX, United Kingdom. angeloskolias@gmail.com
Pal
Debasish
D
Shivane
Aditya
A
Ismail
Azzam
A
Tyagi
Atul K
AK
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D018908:Muscle Weakness / Q000209:etiology; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000473:pathology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome