A Rare Case of Intramedullary Spinal Cord Ganglioglioma with Scoliosis

Ganglioglioma is a slow growing benign intradural intramedullary neuroepithelial tumor. Around 1-2% of all spinal tumors are gangliogliomas. Concurrent scoliosis with ganglioglioma is a rare entity with a few cases reported in literature.

Here, we present a case report of a 17-year-old boy with thoracic intramedullary ganglioglioma with scoliosis and no neurological deficits. The surgical management comprised D5 - D10 laminectomy, posterior midline myelotomy, and near total tumor resection along with instrumentation from D4 to L1 for deformity correction. Patient recovered well with no post-operative neurodeficits. Follow-up at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years was suggestive of improved patient comfort, reduced pain, improved posture, and no new-onset neurological deficits.

Ganglioglioma is a rare intramedullary tumor of spinal cord typically affecting pediatric age group which can be associated with spine deformity. The treatment of choice for Intraspinal gangliogliomas is complete surgical resection. The aim of surgery is to strike a balance between the extent of tumor resection and preserving the normal spinal cord function without causing iatrogenic neurological deficits.