Spinal epidural cavernous hemangioma in an HIV-positive patient

Spinal epidural cavernous hemangioma is rare.

Here, we report a case of spinal epidural cavernous hemangioma in an HIV-positive patient.

Single case report.

A 40-year-old known HIV-positive woman presented with a 6-month history of slowly progressive bilateral leg weakness and pain. Neuroimaging showed an epidural mass lesion, which was isointense on T1-WI, hyperintense on T2-WI, and homogenously enhanced with gadolinium diethylenetriamine pentaacetate (Gd-DTPA), from T8 to T10.

The patient underwent T8-T10 laminectomy and removal of this lesion. Pathological diagnosis was cavernous hemangioma.

Although soft-tissue tumors such as Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphomas have been well documented in association with HIV infection, this is the first reported case of spinal epidural cavernous hemangioma. This may be an incidental finding or perhaps a causal relationship exists, suggesting that cavernous hemangioma could be a differential diagnosis of a spine lesion in HIV-positive patients.