• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.521-524
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• 2013

Ependymoma can spread via cerebrospinal fluid, but late spinal recurrences of intracranial tumor are very rare. We describe a case of a 33-year-old male who presented with multiple, delayed, recurrent lesions in the spinal cord from an intracranial ependymoma. The patient underwent gross total resection and postoperative radiation therapy 14 years prior to visit for a low grade ependymoma in the 4th ventricle. The large thoraco-lumbar intradural-extramedullary spinal cord tumor was surgically removed and the pathologic diagnosis was an anaplastic ependymoma. An adjuvant whole-spine radiation therapy for residual spine lesions was performed. After completion of radiation therapy, a MRI showed a near complete response and the disease was stable for three years.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.64-67
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• 2011

We present a case report of a 45-year-old woman with spontaneous pneumocephalus accompanied by pneumorrhachis of the thoracic spine, which is a very rare condition generally associated with trauma and thoracic or spinal surgery. The patient had undergone an operation about 10 years earlier to treat a giant cell tumor of the thoracic spine. During the operation, a metallic device was installed, which destroyed the bronchus and caused the formation of a broncho-paraspinal fistula. This is the suspected cause of her pneumocephalus and pneumorrhachis. To our knowledge, this is a very rare case of pneumocephalus accompanied by pneumorrhachis induced by metallic device, and when considering the length of time after surgery these complications presented are also exceptional.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.454-457
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• 2010

Pure ventral midline giant schwannoma is an extremely rare entity. Spinal intradural extramedullary schwannomas commonly occur posterolateral or anterolateral to the spinal cord. A case of a pure midline ventrally situated giant pan cervical extramedullary schwannoma in an 18-year-old male patient with compressive myelopathy and sphincter involvement is presented. Spinal MR imaging showed a midline ventrally situated extramedullary tumor with severe spinal cord compression extending from clivus to C7 vertebra. It was resected through a posterolateral approach. Histology was consistent with a schwannoma. Post operative MR imaging showed no evidence of the tumor. The radiological features, pathogenesis and surgical strategies in management of these difficult tumors are discussed and the relevant literature is briefly reviewed.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.sup1
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• pp.96-98
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• 2016

Wilms' tumor is the most common malignant renal tumor in childhood. The brain metastasis of a Wilms' tumor with anaplastic histopathology is rare. We present the case of an 8-year-old girl with Wilms' tumor, who presented with multiple brain metastases 5 years after her primary diagnosis. The brain masses were diagnosed after a generalized tonic-clonic seizure attack. The big solid mass in the cerebellum was resected, and whole-brain radiotherapy was performed, after which, she succumbed to her disease. In the case of clinical suspicion, cranial surveillance should be included in the routine clinical work-up for Wilms' tumor. Combined aggressive therapy (surgery+radiotherapy+chemotherapy) should be applied whenever possible, for both better survival and palliative aspects.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.186-189
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• 2007

Metastasizing mixed tumors [MMT] of salivary glands are inexplicably metastasize maintaining benign histology. There is no pathologic and flow cytometric analysis criteria to predict the metastasis. MMT is known to metastasize by local implantation, vascular and lymphatic embolization after multiple surgery to local recurrences of primary tumor. However, multiple metastasis including cranium and spine occurred even without surgery to the primary tumor in this case. No pathological evidence of malignancy could be found in both primary and metastatic tumor. MMT is considered as an low grade malignancy based on clinical behavior rather than histologic evidence, such as low mortality rate, long delay of metastasis after primary lesion. Cranial metastasis is also extremely rare and only two cases have been reported. We report this unusual case with a literature review.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.105-108
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• 2012

Giant spinal schwannoma of the cauda equine involving many nerve roots is rare, and ossification is usually not observed in the schwannoma. A 21-year-old man presented with a 12-month history of urinary dysfunction and numbness below the buttocks. Plain radiography showed scalloping of the posterior surface of the vertebral bodies from L4 to the sacrum, and magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography revealed a giant cauda equina tumor with dystrophic calcification. The tumor was completely removed, with intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring. Histopathologic examination showed that the tumor was a schwannoma. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, with urinary function and numbness gradually improving. Although a giant schwannoma accompanied by dystrophic calcification is extremely rare, such a tumor can be removed safely and completely by meticulous dissection and careful neuromonitoring of the cauda equina spinal nerves involved in the tumor.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.291-295
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• 2000

A 22-year-old man is presented with 3 months' history of dull pain on the lower thoracic area. Imaging studies suggested osteoid osteoma of 11th thoracic spine, which was verified pathologically after en bloc resection through transfacetal approach. The patient's preoperative pain was resolved immediately. We emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and complete surgical excision of tumor nidus.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.233-236
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• 2012

Osteochondroma is a rare condition in the spine that may be indolent due to its slow growth. The authors present a case of 32-year-old man with subclinical osteochondroma in the cervical spine presenting as Brown-Sequard syndrome after trivial neck trauma. After resection of the tumor through hemilaminectomy, his symptoms were improved with mild residual sequelae.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.151-154
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• 2013

Multiple myeloma, a multicentric hematological malignancy, is the most common primary tumor of the spine. As epidural myeloma causing spinal cord compression is a rare condition, its therapeutic approach and clinical results have been reported to be diverse, and no clear guidelines for therapeutic decision have been established. Three patients presented with progressive paraplegia and sensory disturbance. Image and serological studies revealed multiple myeloma and spinal cord compression caused by epidural myeloma. Emergency radiotherapy and steroid therapy were performed in all three cases. However, their clinical courses and results were distinctly different. Following review of our cases and the related literature, we suggest a systematic therapeutic approach for these patients to achieve better clinical results.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.262-265
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• 1997

We experienced a case of osteoid osteoma in thoracic vertebra accompanied with herniated nucleus pulposus during the management of back pain. A 32 year old male patient with herniated nucleus pulposus complained of back pain and radiation to right leg. Lumbar epidural block with 1% mepivacaine 5 ml was performed for pain control and it relieved the radiating pain. However patient continued to experience severe exacerated back pain at night which responded to aspirin. Therefore we performed further examination for existence of disease of the spine and diagnosed osteoid osteoma in the right pedicle of T12 vertebra. In conclusion, we recommend physicians when evaluating patients with back pain to be congnizant of possible existence of neoplastic disease of the spine and incorporate it in differential diagnosis.