Back to Search
Start Over
Retropharyngeal chordoma extending to the spinal cord, mimicking a neurogenic tumor: a case report and literature review
- Source :
- The Journal of International Medical Research, Journal of International Medical Research, Vol 49 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- SAGE Publications, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Chordomas are rare, locally aggressive bone malignancies with poor prognoses. However, those with minimal or no bone involvement are more easily resectable because of their well-delineated margins and thus have better prognoses. Such extraosseous chordomas of the spine are localized both intradurally and extradurally. Only a few case reports have focused on extraosseous, extradural spinal chordomas. Radiologically, this type of chordoma has a dumbbell shape; however, dumbbell-shaped spinal tumors are traditionally thought to be neurogenic tumors (i.e., schwannomas or neurofibromas). We herein report a unique case involving a woman with a dumbbell-shaped extraosseous chordoma protruding predominantly into the retropharyngeal space. A 44-year-old woman presented for evaluation of a left submandibular mass. A T2-hyperintense, gadolinium-enhancing mass was found in her cervical spinal canal, protruding through the C2/3 neural foramen into the retropharyngeal space with minimal vertebral involvement. The initial diagnosis was a neurogenic tumor, most likely a schwannoma. After subtotal removal, the pathologic diagnosis was a chordoma. Because chordomas and schwannomas have significantly different prognoses, caution is warranted when a dumbbell-shaped tumor is identified in the spine with minimal or no vertebral deterioration on radiology. This report also provides the first thorough review of extraosseous dumbbell-shaped intraspinal–extraspinal chordomas.
- Subjects :
- musculoskeletal diseases
Adult
medicine.medical_specialty
Medicine (General)
dumbbell
retropharyngeal space
neurogenic tumor
Case Report
Cervical spinal canal
Schwannoma
Biochemistry
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
R5-920
extraosseous
Chordoma
Medicine
Humans
Spinal Cord Neoplasms
Spinal Chordoma
Intervertebral foramen
Retropharyngeal space
Spinal Neoplasms
business.industry
Biochemistry (medical)
Cell Biology
General Medicine
medicine.disease
Spinal cord
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
medicine.anatomical_structure
030220 oncology & carcinogenesis
Female
Radiology
business
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Neurilemmoma
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14732300 and 03000605
- Volume :
- 49
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The Journal of International Medical Research
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d3b0b396c54abc014154c8cf17e4d1f6