One-stage resection of giant invasive thoracic schwannoma: case report and review of literature.
Year: 2014
Type: article
Study design: Case Report
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Schwannomas comprise approximately 25% of all spinal tumors, being the third most frequent soft-tissue tumor after hemangiomas and lipomas. Grade 5 invasive giant schwannomas erode the vertebral bodies, involve 2 or more levels, and invade the myofascial planes. Because 3 compartments are involved, these tumors represent a surgical challenge and frequently require staged surgeries with a multidisciplinary surgical team. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a 62-year-old female who presented with intermittent upper back pain for 3 years. A magnetic resonance imaging scan of the thoracic spine showed a mass invading the vertebral body, pedicle, and lamina of T4 and part of T3 and T5. Needle biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of schwannoma. The patient underwent surgery using a parascapular extracavitary costotransversectomy approach. CONCLUSION: Giant invasive spinal schwannomas are rare in the thoracic spine, and surgical approaches usually have entailed multiple-stage surgeries with the assistance of other surgical specialties. Our 1-stage complete surgical resection of a giant invasive spinal schwannoma used a parascapular costotransversectomy approach that maintained spinal stability and thus avoided the need for instrumentation.
Source: Europe PMC (PubMed Central)
Institutions: Ochsner Health System, Ochsner Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W44092296