Ancient schwannoma of lumbar spine and review of the literature on paraspinal tumors, the role of preoperative biopsy: a case report

Autor: Constantine Vagianos, Constantine Antonopoulos, Constantine Lilimpakis, Dimitra Daskalopoulou, Maria Karagianni, Theodoulos Kyriakou
Rok vydání: 2009
Předmět:
Zdroj: Cases Journal
ISSN: 1757-1626
DOI: 10.1186/1757-1626-2-9325
Popis: Introduction Schwannomas are rare encapsulated tumors that derive from the nerve sheath and should be removed due to their infrequent, but existent possibility of malignancy. Case presentation We report a case of a mass located in the L5 lumbar spine in a 42 year old man, presented with intermittent lumbar pain. Ultrasound, CT and MRI were used to examine the characteristics of the lesion. Fine needle aspiration showed cytologic characteristics of benign schwannoma and final histological diagnosis was ancient schwannoma. An extraperitoneal approach, through a left paramedian incision was used to approach the site of the mass. The lesion originated from the nerve root of the L4-L5 lumbar spinal space and a complete excision was achieved. Conclusion A great variety of tumors should be differentiated when a paraspinal mass is discovered, including neurogenic, neuroendocrine and vascular tumors, as well as malignancies, cystic and inflammatory masses. Fine needle aspiration is a useful and reliable tool in the preoperative evaluation of paraspinal masses. A review of the literature is also presented.
Databáze: OpenAIRE