CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arquivos Brasileiros de Neurocirurgia: Brazilian Neurosurgery 2024; 43(01): e81-e86
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1731011
Case Report

Paraganglioma of the Cauda Equina – Case Report and Literature Review

Paraganglioma de cauda equina – Relato de caso e revisão da Literatura
1   Departament of Neurosurgery, Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
,
1   Departament of Neurosurgery, Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
,
1   Departament of Neurosurgery, Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
,
1   Departament of Neurosurgery, Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
,
1   Departament of Neurosurgery, Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
,
1   Departament of Neurosurgery, Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
,
1   Departament of Neurosurgery, Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
,
1   Departament of Neurosurgery, Hospital Municipal Salgado Filho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Paragangliomas of the cauda equina are tumors of rare incidence, with ~ 220 cases described in the world literature. They are benign lesions, grade I by the World Health Organization (WHO), whose definitive diagnosis can only be made by immunohistochemical analysis. Its neuroendocrine nature is evidenced by the presence of chromogranin. The relevance of reporting this case is because paragangliomas of the cauda equina should be included among the differential diagnoses of intradural and extramedullary tumors, and especially because they can cause perioperative and intraoperative hypertensive crises by adrenergic discharge.

The present study presents the case of a 36-year-old male patient diagnosed with a lumbar spine tumor located in the central spinal canal that presented as cauda equina syndrome involving 4 months of bilateral sciatica, paraparesis, urinary and fecal retention. The diagnosis of paraganglioma was confirmed by immunohistochemical positivity for chromogranin after microsurgical resection of the tumor.

Resumo

Paragangliomas da cauda equina são tumores de incidência rara, com ~ 220 casos descritos na literatura mundial. São lesões benignas, grau 1 pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS), cujo diagnóstico definitivo apenas pode ser feito pela análise imunohistoquímica, onde se evidencia a natureza neuroendócrina dada especialmente pela presença de cromogranina. O presente relato de caso se torna importante porque este deve ser considerado entre os diagnósticos diferenciais de tumores intradurais e extramedulares, e porque há trabalhos na literatura descrevendo crises hipertensivas durante a ressecção da lesão devidas a descarga adrenérgica.

O presente estudo apresenta o caso de um paciente masculino de 36 anos diagnosticado com tumor na coluna lombar localizado no canal medular, que cursou com síndrome de cauda equina, com 4 meses de lombociatalgia bilateral, evoluindo à paraparesia, retenção urinária e fecal. Após microcirurgia para ressecção tumoral, o diagnóstico de paraganglioma só foi confirmado através da imunohistoquímica, com positividade para cromogranina.



Publication History

Received: 12 May 2020

Accepted: 09 March 2021

Article published online:
06 January 2022

© 2022. Sociedade Brasileira de Neurocirurgia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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