title: Paravertebral high cervical chordoma. A case report.
abstract: Spinal chordomas are more often located on the midline and are associated with marked destruction of the vertebral bodies. We report a rare case of large cervical (C2-C3) right lateral paravertebral chordoma extending into the spinal canal through a very enlarged intervertebral foramen. The tumor was initially diagnosed as a mucous adenocarcinoma on a percutaneous needle biopsy. However, the neuroradiological features, including the well-defined tumor margins, the regular and sclerosing lytic bone changes with regular enlargement of the intervertebral C2-C3 foramen, were in favor of a more slowly growing lesion, such as schwannoma or neurofibroma. At surgery a well-demarcated capsulated tumor involving the nerve root was partially resected. Histology was in favor of a low-grade chordoma (Ki-67/MIB-1<1%). Postoperative proton beam therapy was also performed. The differential neuroradiological diagnosis is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Biomedical Sciences, Section of Neuroradiology, Federico II University, Naples, Italy. aelefant@unina.it
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elefante
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caranci
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Del Basso De Caro
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peca
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guadagno
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Severino
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mariniello
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maiuri
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D000368:Aged; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002817:Chordoma / Q000473:pathology*; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000378:metabolism; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D007633:Keratins