[Cervico-dorsal intramedullary lipoma of neonatal presentation]

We present the case of a ten day old boy with cervicodorsal intramedullary lipoma. The initial clinical presentation was of rapidly progressing unilateral brachial paralysis. Neurological examination at birth was completely normal apart from a cutaneous port wine stain on the shoulder homolateral to the paralysis thought to be due to an angiolipoma. On clinical suspicion of an intradural space-occupying lesion at cervical level, a magnetic resonance study was done which showed an intramedullary tumour at cervicodorsal level extending from C3 to T3, which disappeared with the fat suppression technique, a finding characteristic of lipomas. The anatomo-pathological report was that the mass was a tumour made up of mature fat cells in a connective tissue stroma, with no malignant formation or granulomatous components. Lipomas are the second most common spinal tumors in infancy after neuroblastoma. This type of tumour is usually found at lumbosacral level and is considered to be congenital.

This lipoma was unusual in being cervicodorsal (a common site in adults but not in infancy), being intramedullary (most are extramedullary even when they are intradural), presentation being so early during the neonatal period, rapidly progressive and relapsing after surgical removal.