Intramedullary spinal cord cavernous angioma in children: case report and literature review

Infantile Cervical Intramedullary Cavernous Angioma Manifesting as Hematomyelia -Case Report-

“…According to this age distribution, the hormonal influence of puberty might lead to a greater risk of bleeding. 25) Adult intramedullary spinal cord cavernous angiomas are more commonly found in the thoracic spine. However, they are evenly distributed in the thoracic and cervical spinal cord in children.…”

“…However, they are evenly distributed in the thoracic and cervical spinal cord in children. 8,24,25,35) Neurological deterioration is usually slowly progressive in adults. 1,6,15) Other forms of clinical presentation of intramedullary spinal cord cavernous angiomas include acute deficit followed by slow and stepwise deterioration with periods of clinical improvement or acute episodes of mild symptoms with gradual decline over months.…”

“…8,10,24,25,35) In a review of the pediatric cases, 50-100% of the cases presented with acute hemorrhage and neurological deterioration. 8,10,24,25,35) Similarly in our case, the clinical presentation began Cervical Intramedullary Cavernous Angioma in an Infant with acute neurological deficit due to hematomyelia which was clearly demonstrated by MR imaging. The hemorrhage rates of cerebral cavernous angiomas are 0.5-1.0% per year, whereas the ratio of intramedullary spinal cord cavernous angiomas is 1.6%.…”

“…years) have been reported. 1,3,8,9,14,17,19,21,[24][25][26][35][36][37]39,40) Here we describe an infantile case of cervical intramedullary spinal cord cavernous angioma and discuss the usefulness of osteoplastic laminotomy for an infant.…”

“…8,19,24) Since the introduction of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, the number of intramedullary spinal cord cavernous angiomas reported in the literature has increased greatly. 3,[8][9][10]17,19,24,25,35,36,40,47) However, only 21 cases of intramedullary spinal cord cavernous angioma among children (not older than 18 , and gadolinium-enhanced T 1 -weighted (C) magnetic resonance images disclosing a mass lesion at the level between C4-C7 with no enhancement by gadolinium injection. years) have been reported.…”