Open AccessMelanotic cyst of L5 spinal root: A case report and review of literature
Author(s) -
Hariprakash Chakravarthy
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
asian journal of neurosurgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2248-9614
DOI - 10.4103/1793-5482.106659
Subject(s) - medicine , facetectomy , lesion , laminectomy , nerve root , cyst , histopathology , schwannoma , low back pain , magnetic resonance imaging , keratocyst , curettage , spinal cord , anatomy , surgery , pathology , radiology , alternative medicine , psychiatry
Till date, 85 cases of melanotic schwannoma and 11 cases of spinal root melanoma have been reported in literature. We are reporting a case of a 45-year-old lady who presented with primary low back pain, and magnetic resonance imaging of lumbo-sacral spine showed at left L5-S1 foraminal lesion extending to the para-spinal compartment. Hemi-laminectomy, facetectomy, and excision of the lesion were done. It was primarily a cystic lesion with attachment to the exiting spinal nerve root. Histopathology of the cyst wall showed a fibro-collagenous stroma with no specific cell lining containing melanin pigment suggestive of a melanotic cyst. The patient was completely relieved of the back pain, and had no recurrence over a follow-up period of one and half years. This case is probably the first reported predominantly cystic, pigmented lesion, affecting the spinal root.