[Melanoma of the spinal cord in pregnancy (author's transl)]

A case of spinal cord melanoma at the level of C2 was reported. A 27-year-old house-wife, in the 8th month of an uncomplicated pregnancy, complained of motor weakness and sensory impairment in the left arm. Then, left lower limb and right upper and lower limbs were gradually involved and she suffered from tetraplegia when she was first admitted to our hospital about two months after the beginning of her symptoms. Neurological and roentogenological examination revealed an upper cervical intradural extramedullary tumor, and laminectomy from C1 to C4 was performed. The tumor was totally removed and diagnosed as a melanocytic melanoma histopathologically. Postoperatively, she had complete recovery. In order to exclude the possibility of a metastatic melanoma, the patient was seen in repeated consultations by dermatology, gastro-enterology, otorhinolaryngology, urology and gynecology services. But, there was no evidence of pigmented lesions anywhere, so we considered this case as a primary melanoma of the spinal cord clinically. Finally, a brief discussion about correlation between the melanoma and the pregnancy was added.