Ruptured Conus Medullaris Dermoid Cyst with Fat Droplets in the Central

Spinal dermoid tumors are rare, benign, slow growing tumors. These tumors may become acutely symptomatic after rupture or infection. Excision of the lesion with long term close follow-up studies is required for the management of these lesions. We present a very rare case of ruptured conus medullaris dermoid cyst in a 22-year-old male presented with urinary retention and low back pain. Magnetic resonance imaging scan with contrast reveals a lesion in the cauda equina inseparable from conus medullaris with fat droplets within the central spinal canal extending up to the medulla. Patient was operated with laminectomy and near complete excision of the lesion was done. Patient's low back pain was relieved following surgery. However patient had persistent urinary incontinence and on clean intermittent self-catheterization. Histopathology was suggestive of dermoid cyst.

Erratum: Correction of Title. Ruptured Conus Medullaris Dermoid Cyst with Fat Droplets in the Central Canal

This article on Asian Spine Journal was initially published without the word 'Canal' in the title.

Functional Paraganglioma: A Rare Conus-cauda Lesion.

Conus-cauda syndrome is caused due to involvement of the lower end of the spinal cord and arising bunch of nerve roots. It is caused commonly due to traumatic injury, spinal stenosis, spinal tumors, inflammatory, and infectious conditions, but paraganglioma is a rare cause. These tumors are rarely functional and secrete catecholamine. Till now only five case reports of functional spinal paragangliomas are available to the best of our knowledge. We report a 50-year-old hypertensive male patient with a lobulated lesion extending from lower border of D12 to L2, which was reported as ependymoma on imaging studies done preoperatively. This lesion was confirmed to be a functional paraganglioma postoperatively after the patient died because of its furious complication, thus highlighting the importance of its preoperative diagnosis and management. In conclusion conus-cauda functional paragangliomas are very rare entity. Diagnosing them in preoperative condition is critical from the therapeutic point of view, both medical and surgical. During surgery these tumors should be handled very gently to avoid spillage of catecholamines into blood. These tumors require assistance of expert anesthetist and endocrinologist in the perioperative period.

Primary Lumbo-sacral Spinal Epidural Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma: A Case Report and Review of Literature

We present a case of 24-year-old male presented with low back pain radiating to the left lower limb, tingling numbness and weakness of 6 months duration. Magnetic resonance imaging scan with contrast reveals an extradural mass at lumbosacral region. Patient was operated with laminectomy and complete excision of the lesion was done. Patient's radicular pain relieved following the surgery and weakness also improved. Histopathology was suggestive of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Patient received chemotherapy which was followed by radiotherapy. Primary Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the lumbosacral spinal epidural tissue is an uncommon lesion. Lymphoma involves the central nervous system in 5-11% of cases either at presentation of the disease or during its course. The spinal epidural tissue is involved primarily in 0.1-3.3% of cases with spinal cord compression being the commonest presentation. Excision of the lesion followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy is required to achieve cure.