Ecchordosis physaliphora: Case report and brief review of the literature

Ecchordosis physaliphora is a rare congenital benign hamartomatous lesion originating from nodal cord remnants. This is histopathologically indistinguishable from chordoma, and hence imaging plays a key role in diagnosis. These lesions are hypointense on T1-weighted and hyperintense on T2-weighted images, and follow CSF signal. In contrast to chordoma, Ecchordosis Physaliphora does not demonstrate contrast enhancement. Here, we present a case of 32-year-old male with no prior medical history, who presented to an outside facility for chronic headache workup and incidentally detected indeterminate lytic defect in the bony clivus with a well demarcated smoothly corticated margin. Further assessment with MRI brain showed findings characteristic of Ecchordosis physaliphora, a benign congenital hamartomatous lesion originating from nodal cord remnants requiring no additional follow-up imaging or intervention.