Spinal cord subependymoma mimicking syringomyelia in a child: a case report

Spinal cord subependymomas (SCSEs) in children are extremely rare, and no reports distinguishing SCSEs from syringomyelia have been published. We report a case of a 10-year-old boy who presented with torticollis, scoliosis, as well as pain that had begun in the posterior portion of the neck and progressed to the right shoulder and upper arm. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an intramedullary cyst-like lesion with the same signal intensity as that of cerebrospinal fluid. Idiopathic syringomyelia with scoliosis was first suspected, and a syrinx-subarachnoid space shunt was performed. After surgery, the lesion was slightly smaller; however, 2 years after surgery, it had re-grown, causing excruciating pain but no other symptoms. A second surgery was performed, and gross total resection was achieved. Pathological evaluation revealed SCSE. SCSE needs to be considered as a differential diagnosis for spinal centric cyst-like lesions in children.