Ganglioneurocytoma of the spinal cord: report of a case and review of literature

Abstract

A case of ganglioneurocytoma of the spinal cord in a 51-year-old man is reported. Patient presented with a progressively worsening back pain and hyposthenia of lower limbs. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spinal cord revealed an intradural lesion in the T10-11 spinal segments, hyperintense on T1-weighted sequences. Complete resection was achieved. The patient did not show evidence of recurrence 12 months after surgery. On histology, the lesion was composed of round to oval cells with fine granular, slightly eosinophilic to clear cytoplasm suggesting a neurocytic differentiation. Some ganglion cells were observed. Neither significant cytologic atypia nor mitoses were present. The neoplastic cells were strongly positive with synaptophysin and negative with glial fibrillary acid protein. Neurocytomas are uncommon tumors typically arising within the lateral ventricles near the foramen of Monro. Extraventricular neurocytomas have been reported at various sites with rare examples in spinal cord. In the present paper, a case of ganglioneurocytoma of the spinal cord is reported with review of literature and discussion of differences compared to neurocytomas of other sites.

Primary intramedullary neurocytoma: Case report and literature analysis

“…Adjuvant RT was performed only in 7 patients (31.81%). [ 1 12 16 17 ] The clinical outcome at follow-up was reported stable in 4 cases[ 1 11 12 ] and improved in the present case and in 11[ 2 3 5 10 11 14 15 16 17 ] from the literature, with an overall good functional outcome in 72.72% of patients. The mean PFS was 22.65 ± 1.11 months [ Figure 3 ] with a 1-year PFS of 95.45% and a 2-year PFS of 86.36%.…”

“…The mean age of the selected patients was 36.45 ± 17.77 years with a mean follow-up of 38.18 ± 58.46 months. A subtotal resection (STR) was achieved in 14 (64%)[ 1 2 5 11 12 16 17 19 ] while a gross total resection (GTR) was feasible only in 7 cases[ 3 9 10 13 14 15 18 ] and in the present case (36%). Adjuvant RT was performed only in 7 patients (31.81%).…”

“…We excluded from the analysis articles with a follow-up fewer than 6 months or with no information about the follow-up. Fifteen articles[ 1 2 3 5 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ] and the present case (22 patients, 15/male, 7/female) were eligible for the analysis. The clinical and outcome data are reported in Table 1 .…”

“…Due to the rarity of this pathology, only a few cases have been reported in the literature. [ 1 2 3 5 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ] Moreover, it is difficult to collect a wide series in a single institution in order to perform a survival analysis and give indications about prognosis and treatment. Thus, the aim of this study was to report a case of primary intramedullary neurocytoma and to perform a systematic statistical analysis of cases reported in the literature in order to identify potentially prognostic factors on neurological outcome and recurrence risk.…”

Unusual exophytic neurocytoma of thoracic spine mimicking meningioma: a case report and review of the literature

“…Only 15 cases have been reported in the spinal area in the English literature [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Fourteen cases were presented as an intramedullary lesion with spinal cord enlargement and one case originated from the cauda equina area as an extramedullary lesion on MRI studies.…”