Hemangioma capilar medular: Reporte de un caso y revisión de la literatura / Spinal cord capillary hemangioma: Report of a case and bibliographical review

ABSTRACT

Objective. To describe a rare case of intramedullary capillary haemangioma of the thoracic spinal cord asociated with extensive cord edema and review of the literature. Description. A 65-yeard-old male pacient presented a 4-months history of dorsal back pain, progressive 4/5 paraparesis and sensory abnormality of the lower extremities. MR studies of the thoracic spine show a well-defined intramedullary mass at the D6 level, isointense on T1, hiperintense on T2 and homogeneous, strong enhancement with gadolinium, compatible with vascular lesion, asociated with extensive cord edema from D8-C2. Intervention. A D6-D7 laminectomy was performed and the tumor was completly removed en bloc by using standard microneurosurgical technique. Conclusion. It is very important to know about the existence of intramedullary capillary haemangiomas. Despite of being extremely rare, they are benign vascular neoplasms with a good outcome after their complete resection. Therefore, it´s necessary to distinguish them of other malignant tumors, to avoid overtreatment of these benign lesions.