title: Paediatric calcified intramedullary schwannoma at conus: A common tumor in a vicarious location.
abstract: Spinal schwannomas are commonly intradural extramedullary in location. As Schwann cells are not common in the central nervous system, intramedullary schwannomas are a rare entity. In adults, an estimated sixty cases have been reported in English literature. They are rarer in children (less than ten cases), and preoperative diagnosis becomes a prerogative in achieving total excision. Cervical cord is a common location and less commonly they occur in the conus. We report a rare case of calcified conus intramedullary schwannoma in a child without neurofibromatosis, who presented with conus-cauda syndrome of 1-year duration. Literature has been reviewed regarding its origin, pathophysiology, radiological features, and surgical management. This child underwent laminotomy and subtotal resection of the lesion. Histopathologically, tumor had typical features of schwannoma and was positive for S-100 immunoperoxidase. We believe that schwannoma needs to be considered in the preoperative differential diagnosis of a conus tumor in children as complete excision is possible in these benign tumors, thus affecting a cure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, M S Ramaiah Institute of Neurosciences, M S Ramaiah Medical College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Aniruddha Tekkatte
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Jagannatha
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, M S Ramaiah Institute of Neurosciences, M S Ramaiah Medical College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Krishna Chaitanya
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropathology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Shilpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, M S Ramaiah Institute of Neurosciences, M S Ramaiah Medical College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Umesh
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Srikantha
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, M S Ramaiah Institute of Neurosciences, M S Ramaiah Medical College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Ravi Gopal
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Varma
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropathology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahadevan
keywords: Calcification; conus lesion; differential diagnosis; foot drop; intramedullary schwannoma