Vertebral metastatic chemodectoma: imaging and therapeutic octreotide

2002 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Marie U-King-Im ◽  
Thomas A. Carroll ◽  
Kevin Morris

✓ The authors report on the use of external-beam radiotherapy and octreotide in a 32-year-old woman who presented with spinal cord compression secondary to metastatic chemodectoma. Scintigraphy studies were used to confirm the presence of somatostatin receptors. Magnetic resonance imaging, and in particular spinal angiography, were performed to define the extent of spinal metastatic disease. The literature on current investigation and management of vertebral metastatic chemodectoma is reviewed.

1993 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
William C. Olivero ◽  
William C. Hanigan ◽  
Kerry W. McCluney

✓ A 16-year-old boy presented with acute midline thoracic pain followed by rapidly progressive paraplegia. The initial neurological examination demonstrated a complete sensory and motor paraplegia, which significantly improved spontaneously over the following 2 days. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a posterior epidural hematoma extending from the T-4 to T-6 vertebrae, and spinal angiography demonstrated an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) with a nidus of abnormal epidural vessels at the level of the T-5 vertebra, which was confirmed surgically. This case represents one of the first reports of a spinal epidural AVM confirmed by angiography.


2000 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. Bhatoe ◽  
S. S. Bakshi ◽  
G. L. N. Swamy

✓ Echinococcosis affecting the spine is rare. The authors present the case of a 23-year-old man in whom features of thoracic spinal cord compression were demonstrated. Magnetic resonance imaging of the thoracic spine revealed an extradural cystic lesion involving the spine and paraspinal musculature. At surgery echinococcosis was confirmed, and subsequent histopathological examination also revealed Trichinella infestation of the paraspinal musculature. After undergoing decompressive surgery and albendazole therapy, the patient made a remarkable improvement. Although primary echinococcosis can affect the spine, concomitant infestation with Trichinella has not been reported. Surgery has to be followed by albendazole therapy.


1988 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 940-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curtis A. Dickman ◽  
Joseph M. Zabramski ◽  
Volker K. H. Sonntag ◽  
Stephen Coons

✓ A 30-year-old man presented with a subacute course of myelopathic signs and symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated an epidural mass lesion of the spinal canal at the cervicothoracic junction causing compression of the spinal cord. Laminectomy with resection of this lesion revealed a large varix with acute and chronic thrombus. Postoperatively, an improvement in neurological function occurred. Spinal epidural varicosities have been reported as an etiological factor in lumbar and sacral radiculopathies. This is the first reported case of spinal cord compression in association with spinal epidural varices. The diagnosis, pathophysiology, and management of this disorder are presented.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-134
Author(s):  
Behzad Eftekhar ◽  
Ebrahim Ketabchi ◽  
Mohammad Ghodsi ◽  
Ali Ahmadi

✓ Cervical actinomycosis causing spinal cord compression is a rare clinical entity. In a review of the literature, the authors found only 13 cases with actinomycosis-related spinal neurological deficit. The authors describe the case of a 26-year-old man who presented with neck pain and partial paresis of the upper limbs. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a long cervical epidural enhancing lesion that extended from C-1 to T-2. The radiological findings resembled metastasis and other epidural infections. The patient was treated medically with penicillin and amoxicillin for 7 months and recovered neurologically. The authors conclude that although cervical epidural actinomycosis is a rare clinical entity resembling metastasis and other infections in this region, it should be considered so that this unique infection can be diagnosed in the least invasive fashion and, whenever possible, unnecessary surgery can be avoided.


2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 386-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kariyattil Rajeev ◽  
Dilip Panikar

✓ The authors describe the case of a 44-year-old woman who presented with recent onset of progressive paraparesis and bladder involvement; she had an asymptomatic lumbosacral lipomatous swelling that was present since birth. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the diagnosis of a lipomeningocele. It also revealed intramedullary hyperintensity on T2-weighted images and serpiginous flow voids suggestive of a dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) at the same level; the lesion was confirmed by spinal angiography. Both lesions were surgically managed, and the patient subsequently experienced neurological improvement. The coexistence of a DAVF and a lipomeningocele at the same level is unusual and can lead to treatment failure if missed.


1994 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Manski ◽  
Charles S. Ha worth ◽  
Bertrand J. Duval-Arnould ◽  
Elisabeth J. Rushing

✓ The authors report gigantism in a 16-month-old boy with an extensive optic pathway glioma infiltrating into somatostatinergic pathways, as revealed by magnetic resonance imaging and immunocytochemical studies. Stereotactic biopsies of areas showing hyperintense signal abnormalities on T2-weighted images in and adjacent to the involved visual pathways provided rarely obtained histological correlation of such areas. The patient received chemotherapy, which resulted in reduction of size and signal intensity of the tumor and stabilization of vision and growth velocity.


1987 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 830-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Doppman ◽  
Giovanni Di Chiro ◽  
Andrew J. Dwyer ◽  
Joseph L. Frank ◽  
Edward H. Oldfield

✓ Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on 12 patients with spinal arteriovenous malformations (AVM's). Six lesions were intramedullary, five were dural, and one was in a posterior extramedullary location. Serpentine filling defects similar to the classic myelographic findings were demonstrated within the high-signal cerebrospinal fluid on T2-weighted coronal scans. The intramedullary nidus was identified by MRI as an area of low-signal intensity within the cord in all six intramedullary AVM's. Neither the dural nor the posterior extramedullary lesions showed intramedullary components. It is concluded that MRI may noninvasively provide the initial diagnosis of a spinal AVM and distinguish intramedullary from dural and extramedullary lesions.


1988 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kouichi Miyagi ◽  
Jiro Mukawa ◽  
Susumu Mekaru ◽  
Yasunari Ishikawa ◽  
Toshihiko Kinjo ◽  
...  

✓ The case of an 11-year-old Japanese girl with an intradural and extramedullary enterogenous cyst is presented. A mass giving a low-intensity signal in comparison with the spinal cord was demonstrated on magnetic resonance imaging. Histologically, the diagnosis was confirmed on specimens stained with periodic acid-Schiff, alcian blue, mucicarmine, and immunohistochemical staining of carcinoembryonic antigen, and by electron microscopy.


2004 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsutomu Nakada ◽  
Yukihiko Fujii ◽  
Ingrid L. Kwee

Object. The authors investigated brain strategies associated with hand use in an attempt to clarify genetic and nongenetic factors influencing handedness by using high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging. Methods. Three groups of patients were studied. The first two groups comprised individuals in whom handedness developed spontaneously (right-handed and left-handed groups). The third group comprised individuals who were coercively trained to use the right hand and developed mixed handedness, referred to here as trained ambidexterity. All trained ambidextrous volunteers were certain that they were innately left-handed, but due to social pressure had modified their preferred hand use for certain tasks common to the right hand. Although right-handed and left-handed volunteers displayed virtually identical cortical activation, involving homologous cortex primarily located contralateral to the hand motion, trained ambidextrous volunteers exhibited a clearly unique activation pattern. During right-handed motion, motor areas in both hemispheres were activated in these volunteers. During left-handed motion, the right supplemental motor area and the right intermediate zone of the anterior cerebellar lobe were activated significantly more frequently than observed in naturally right-handed or left-handed volunteers. Conclusions. The results provide strong evidence that cortical organization of spontaneously developed right- and left-handedness involves homologous cortex primarily located contralateral to the hand motion, and this organization is likely to be prenatally determined. By contrast, coerced training of the nondominant hand during the early stages of an individual's development results in mixed handedness (trained ambidexterity), indicating cortical reorganization.


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