Open AccessSpinal meningeal melanocytoma
Author(s) -
Rajeev Sen,
Divya Sethi,
Vandana Goyal,
Amrita Duhan,
Shilpi Modi
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
europe pmc (pubmed central)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2248-9614
DOI - 10.4103/1793-5482.92176
Subject(s) - pathology , melanocytoma , medicine , vimentin , lesion , immunohistochemistry , spinal cord , enolase , anatomy , melanoma , cancer research , psychiatry
Primary melanotic meningeal neoplasms are extremely rare lesions and benign forms are even rarer though with better prognosis than the malignant ones. We describe a 40-year-old male with a history of gradually progressive weakness of both lower limbs with normal bowel, bladder control, and an intradural mass measuring 1.5×1.0 cm on radiologic investigations. The lesion was surgically excised. Histopathologic examination revealed heavily melanin-pigmented cells, nuclei with reticulogranular chromatin and small nucleoli, moderate amount of eosinophillic cytoplasm with indistinct cell boundaries, and symplasmic appearance. A probable diagnosis of meningeal melanocytoma was made. The diagnosis was confirmed on immunohistochemical analysis which revealed strongly positive expression of HMB-45 in the tumor cells. Vimentin and S-100 were also diffusely positive while neuron specific enolase showed focal and patchy positivity; however, epithelial membrane antigen was distinctly negative.