Abstract
BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is among the most common of the central nervous system gliomas in the pediatric population; however, it is uncommon in adults. PAs of the spinal cord in adults are even rarer, with only a few cases found in the literature. We report here the first case in the literature of multifocal intradural extramedullary spinal cord PAs in an adult. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: Our patient is a 56-yr-old female who presented with loss of balance and an ataxic gait. Multiple extramedullary spinal cord tumors were identified intraoperatively, the lesions completely resected, and all diagnosed as PAs. CONCLUSION: This case illustrates a unique instance of multifocal intradural extramedullary spinal cord PAs in an adult with no previous history of PA during childhood, no known familial syndromes, and no brain involvement.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | E178-E184 |
Journal | Neurosurgery |
Volume | 80 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 1 2017 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Astrocytoma
- Extramedullary
- Intradural
- Multifocal
- Pilocytic
- Spinal cord tumor
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Clinical Neurology