Hemangiopericytoma on the intradural thoracic spinal cord: a case report

Hemangiopericytoma develops from many organs. In the central nervous system, most tumors arise in the intracranial portion, and tumors originating from the spinal cord are rare. Its clinical course and neurological characteristics have not been disclosed. We present a case of a 51-year-old woman with gradually progressing paraparesis. Magnetic resonance (MR) images of the thoracic spine demonstrated an intradural tumor at the 6 and 7 thoracic vertebral body level. The patient underwent total excision of the tumor. The histological diagnosis was hemangiopericytoma. MR images after the operation showed no residual tumor and the patient was followed up without adjuvant therapy. However, 5 years later, the patient complained of back pain and gait disturbance again, and MR images showed a recurrence of the tumor. We resected the tumor under motor evoked potential (MEP) monitoring and removed the extradural part of the tumor, but the part of the tumor which had infiltrated the spinal cord was left due to the lowering of MEP amplitude. The operation resulted in partial resection. Spinal intradural hemangiopericytoma is very rare, and only 15 cases including the present case have been reported. This paper will discuss the clinical characteristics and treatment for this tumor.