Open AccessAcute regrowth and dissemination of a mature spinal cord teratoma after partial resection
Author(s) -
Momotaro Kawai,
Narihito Nagoshi,
Akio Iwanami,
Shuji Mikami,
Osahiko Tsuji,
Nobuyuki Fujita,
Mitsuru Yagi,
Kota Watanabe,
Ken Ishii,
Masaya Nakamura,
Morio Matsumoto
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr-2017-223742
Subject(s) - medicine , teratoma , spinal cord , radiation therapy , pathological , central nervous system , spinal cord neoplasm , metastasis , surgery , pathology , cancer , psychiatry
A 23-year-old man presented with difficulty walking and leg pain and numbness. MRI revealed a cystic mass at Th11-12 and a pineal-region tumour. The patient underwent surgery to resect the thoracic-level mass. The tumour adhered strongly to the neural tissue and could only be partially resected. On pathological examination, the resected tumour was diagnosed as a mature teratoma. The tumour regrew and disseminated within 3 months after resection. Both the spinal cord tumour and the tumour in the pineal region shrank significantly after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Although the tumour was pathologically diagnosed as a mature teratoma, we suspect that the residual tumour contained an immature or malignant component. Thus, careful follow-up observation is mandatory after partial resection of a mature teratoma. In addition, because teratomas can disseminate in the central nervous system, the presence of teratoma should prompt an examination of both the spinal cord and brain.