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Thoracic Spinal Cord Glioblastoma Mimicking Epidural Abscess: Case Report and Literature Review

Rudy Marciano1, Zubair Ahammad1, Victor Awuor1

  • 1Neurological Surgery, OhioHealth.

Cureus
|November 7, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Spinal cord glioblastoma, a rare tumor, can mimic epidural abscess on MRI. Intraoperative ultrasound can identify concurrent intradural pathologies, improving diagnosis and surgical planning for spinal tumors.

Area of Science:

  • Neurosurgery
  • Oncology
  • Radiology

Background:

  • Spinal cord glioblastoma (SG) is a rare spinal tumor, comprising 1.5% of all spinal tumors.
  • SG has a poor prognosis, with survival ranging from 2 to 26 months.

Observation:

  • A 57-year-old male presented with paraparesis and MRI findings suggestive of an epidural abscess.
  • Intraoperative and pathological findings confirmed SG, highlighting the potential for spinal cord tumors to mimic epidural abscesses on MRI.

Findings:

  • Spinal cord tumors can present with imaging findings similar to epidural abscesses.
  • Preoperative imaging may not always correlate with intraoperative findings for extradural spinal pathologies.

Implications:

  • Awareness of potential concurrent intradural pathologies is crucial when addressing extradural spinal lesions.
  • Intraoperative ultrasound can aid in identifying intradural pathologies without dural violation, improving diagnostic accuracy and surgical strategy.
Keywords:
astrocytomaepidural abscessglioblastomagliomaintraduralintramedullaryspinal cordspinal cord tumor

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