Published in:
01-06-2012 | Case Report
Symptomatic spinal cord metastasis from cerebral oligodendroglioma
Authors:
A. Elefante, C. Peca, M. L. Del Basso De Caro, C. Russo, F. Formicola, G. Mariniello, A. Brunetti, F. Maiuri
Published in:
Neurological Sciences
|
Issue 3/2012
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Abstract
Spinal subarachnoid spread is not uncommon in brain oligodendrogliomas; on the other hand, symptomatic involvement of the spinal cord and cauda is very rare, with only 16 reported cases. We report the case of a 41-year-old man who underwent resection of a low-grade frontal oligodendroglioma 4 years previously. He was again observed because of bilateral sciatic pain followed by left leg paresis. A spine MRI showed an intramedullary T12–L1 tumor with root enhancement. At operation, an intramedullary anaplastic oligodendroglioma with left exophytic component was found and partially resected. Two weeks later, a large left frontoparietal anaplastic oligodendroglioma was diagnosed and completely resected. The patient was neurologically stable for 8 months and died 1 year after the spinal surgery because of diffuse brain and spinal leptomeningeal spread. The review of the reported cases shows that spinal symptomatic metastases can occur in both low-grade and anaplastic oligodendrogliomas, even many years after surgery of the primary tumor; however, they exceptionally occur as first clinical manifestation or as anaplastic progression. The spinal seeding represents a negative event leading to a short survival.