Search

Background: With an estimated incidence of about 1 case/million patients, paravertebral intramuscular myxomas represent a rare cause of lumbar pain. Rather, they typically occur in the heart and in bone tissues. Case Description: A 64-year-old female presented with a protracted course of nocturnal lumbar pain that radiated to the anterior aspect of the right thigh accompanied by numbness. She reported a slow-growing right paramedian lumbar mass in the previous months. The magnetic resonance (MR) showed a right lumbar paravertebral intramuscular mass at the L3 level (i.e., 70 × 50 mm) that had well-defined margins, and markedly enhanced with gadolinium. Following gross total “en bloc” tumor resection, the patient fully recovered. Pathologically, the myofibroblastic lesion proved to be an intramuscular myxoma without malignant changes. Conclusion: A 64-year-old female presented with a slow-growing MR-documented right paramedian lumbar L3 mass responsible for proximal right-thigh numbness. Following “en bloc” gross total removal of the benign intramuscular myxoma, the patient was asymptomatic.

Background Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the most common helminthic disease of the nervous system in humans and it is caused by the larvae of the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. We present a case of microsurgical removal of a fourth ventricle NCC cyst combined with an endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) to treat hydrocephalus. Case description A 36-year-old woman presented to the emergency room with headache and decreased visual acuity over the last 4 months. A brain magnetic resonance imaging showed obstructive hydrocephalus apparently correlated to a mobile, cystic lesion of the fourth ventricle. In the same operative time, an ETV and a suboccipital craniotomy were performed in order to remove the lesion and to treat the hydrocephalus. The cyst was completely removed and pathologically identified as a T. solium cyst. The early postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged asymptomatic and off anthelmintic medication. Five weeks later, the patient returned with hydrocephalus recurrence and was successfully retreated with an ETV. At 5-month follow-up, she remains asymptomatic and has no evidence of persistent disease or hydrocephalus recurrence. Conclusion Intraventricular neurocysticercosis is, typically, a surgical disease. For cysts located on the fourth ventricle, a suboccipital craniotomy and a telovelar approach remains a valid option. Cyst removal does not necessarily resolve the hydrocephalus problem. ETV offers an option to the classic shunt placement approach and was shown to be effective even on hydrocephalus recurrence.

Background: Myeloid sarcoma (MS) is a malignant tumor that usually occurs concomitantly with or following acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Cavernomas are benign congenital malformations that are unusual in the spine and exceedingly rare in pure extradural locations. Case Description: We report a 73-year-old female with a previous medical history of AML in remission for 3 years who presented with symptoms of low back pain and right lower extremity radiculopathy. A magnetic resonance scan showed an extradural, foraminal lesion centered at the L2 level involving the right L2 nerve root. In view of the history of AML, this lesion was potentially considered MS, a form of AML relapse. Surgery consisting of a right L1 and L2 hemilaminectomy facilitated gross total resection of the purely extradural lesion the proved histologically to be a cavernoma. Conclusion: In patients with a history of leukemia, MS must be considered in the differential diagnosis for any epidural or nerve root lesion that appears following treatment. Although rare, cavernomas must be considered among the differential diagnoses for epidural nerve root lesions in the setting of AML.