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Intracranial chondrosarcoma (Ch-S) is a slow-growing, locally recurrent, malignant cartilaginous tumour of the skull base. Intracranial mesenchymal chondrosarcoma (MsCh-S) is a rarer, more malignant variant associated with the supratentorial meninges. Only seven cases of Ch-S, and six of MsCh-S, that were primarily intraparenchymal in origin have been reported. Moreover, no case of intracranial Ch-S or MsCh-S has been reported in which rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation was prominent. A 17-year-old Asian girl presented with a 4-week history of occipital headache, vomiting and paraesthesia in the left hand. She was drowsy with a left hemiparesis and had a dilated right pupil with bilateral papilloedema. CT demonstrated a large, partly calcified, contrast-enhancing mass in the right temporo-parietal region with oedema and midline shift. Through a large craniotomy, a tense brain was encountered with no apparent cortical abnormality. Despite a radical tumour excision, with excellent initial clinical recovery, a local recurrence rapidly occurred within weeks prior to the administration of any radiotherapy. Initial histopathological examination revealed a primary MsCh-S with osseous and rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation, with an indistinct margin. After a second radical excision, a second recurrence rapidly occurred; however, this proved excessively vascular and inoperable. Radiotherapy was declined and death followed within 3 weeks. This is the seventh case of primary intracerebral MsCh-S to be reported and the first to demonstrate rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation. It was characterized clinically by rapid, local recurrence with increased vascularity.

Objective and Importance: Idiopathic spinal cord herniation (ISCH) is a rare condition, reported in only 25 patients thus far, in which the thoracic cord is prolapsed through an anterior dural defect. It typically presents in middle age as either Brown-Sequard syndrome or spastic paraparesis., Clinical Presentation: A 55-year-old woman initially presented at the age of 41 years with Brown-Sequard syndrome at the T8 disc space level on the left side. Investigations, including primitive magnetic resonance imaging, were deemed negative at that time. After a stepwise deterioration over 14 years, she presented again with spastic paraparesis and double incontinence, in addition to her previous spinothalamic dysfunction. Magnetic resonance imaging at this stage suggested either ISCH or a dorsal arachnoid cyst., Intervention: Through a T7-T8 laminectomy, a left-of-midline ISCH was identified and easily reduced by gentle cord traction. No dorsal arachnoid cyst was identified. The anterior dural defect was repaired with a XenoDerm patch (LifeCell Corp., Woodlands, TX). After surgery, there was improved motor and sphincter function. However, there was continued sensory disturbance., Conclusion: ISCH is rare cause of thoracic cord dysfunction. Despite prolonged diagnostic delay, significant clinical improvement may be obtained with ISCH reduction and anterior dural repair.

Sixty-four patients with suspected cystic myelopathy following spinal cord trauma were examined radiologically. In twenty-seven of these, spinal cord cysts were confirmed at surgery; in five, cysts were excluded by surgery and/or autopsy; the rest were unconfirmed. In water soluble myelography the most frequent sign in those with confirmed cysts was distention of the involved segments of the spinal cord. A less frequent but reliable sign was variation in cord size with position in a paradoxical fashion to the well established changes which occur with air myelography. Focal concentrations of contrast medium were visible within cord substance at CT in two of the patients in whom no cyst was found at surgery or autopsy. Some correlations between clinical features, including rate of progression and results of surgery, and radiological findings are unexpected on the basis of existing theories on pathogenesis.