Intramedullary Spinal Cord Metastasis From Rectal Cancer

Intramedullary spinal cord metastasis (ISCM) is an uncommon condition of the central nervous system (CNS) cause by systemic malignant tumors. Most ISCM cases are known to occur in patients with lung cancer and breast cancer; however, ISCM also very rarely occurs in patients with colorectal cancer. For the first time in Korea, we experienced a case of ISCM arising from rectal cancer, where a 75-year-old man presented with an abruptly-developed left-foot drop and numbness in both legs. The patient had lung metastases from rectal cancer that had been treated with chemotherapy. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intramedullary nodular lesion at the T12 level. ISCM was diagnosed and treated with steroids and radiotherapy. The patient's neurological symptoms were relieved for a while after treatment, but his condition deteriorated progressively. He died 4 months after ISCM had been diagnosed.

Seropositive Neuromyelitis Optica imitating an Intramedullary Cervical Spinal Cord Tumor: Case Report and Brief Review of the Literature

A 44-year-old woman with progressive cervical myelopathy and central cord syndrome was noted to have an extensive cervical intramedullary contrast-enhancing lesion on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The lesion resembled a spinal astrocytoma or ependymoma that required surgical intervention. She was subsequently diagnosed to have neuromyelitis optica (NMO), a rare idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disorder, when the clinical examination revealed left optic atrophy. This was confirmed by a test showing seropositivity for NMO-immunoglobulin (IgG). Disease control was achieved with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive therapy. We report a rare case of a patient with NMO who had MRI features that could have easily led to the condition being misdiagnosed as a spinal cord tumor. The importance of careful history taking, awareness of typical radiological findings and the usefulness of serum NMO-IgG as a diagnostic tool are emphasized.

Intramedullary Sarcoidosis of Cervical Spinal Cord Suspected as Intramedullary Tumor: A case report

Sarcoidosis is an idiopathic multisystem disorder that usually develops in the respiratory system, but rarely in spinal cord. A 54-year-old female patient was presented with progressive right side weakness and paresthesia below C4 level dermatome which began 3 months ago. Cervical MRI findings showed T2 weighted high signal nodular lesion with surrounding edema at the C4 and C5 vertebra level, suggestive of intramedullary spinal cord tumor. She went through the resection of the part of the mass. The result of biopsy revelaed chronic granulomatous inflammation without caseous necrosis. Despite of tuberculosis medication and proper rehabilitation program for 2 weeks, there was no improvement of symptoms with exacerbated findings on cervical MRI and increased serum angiotensin converting enzyme level. We concerned about the cervical intramedullary sarcoidosis at this point, we treated her with steroid. After 3 months, her MRI findings were improved without improvement in her symptoms.