[A Dumbbell-Type Thoracic Spinal Lipoma: A Case Report].
Spinal lipomas are rare, accounting for less than 1% of all spinal tumors. Most are associated with spinal dysraphism. Spinal lipomas without spinal dysraphism are uncommon;they are typically subpial tumors. Some tumors are located both inside and outside the dura mater (so-called "dumbbell-type"). Herein, we report a patient with a dumbbell-type thoracic spinal lipoma. A man in his 50's complained of progressive gait disturbance, dysesthesia in his left leg, and hyperesthesia in his right leg. His symptoms were worsened by exercise. CT and MRI revealed a thoracic spinal lipoma extending from the spinal cord to the intervertebral foramen at the Th 6-8 level. He underwent partial tumor removal and untethering. Postoperatively he reported gradual symptom abatement. Dumbbell-type spinal lipomas are very rare. Besides partial removal of the tumor, untethering should be considered when symptoms are associated with tethering of the spinal cord.
Department of Neurosurgery, Sapporo Azabu Neurosurgical Hospital.
Soichiro
S
Takamiya
Kazutoshi
K
Hida
Shunsuke
S
Yano
Toru
T
Sasamori
Toshitaka
T
Seki
Hisatoshi
H
Saito
D006801:Humans; D008067:Lipoma / Q000601:surgery*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed