Ganglioglioma - Spinal Cord
Case Detail
Anatomy: Brain-Spine |
![]() Joseph Junewick, MD FACR |
Diagnostic Category: Neoplasia Malignant |
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Created: over 7 years ago |
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Updated: over 7 years ago |
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Tags:
PEDS
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Modality/Study Types:
MR
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Activities: ![]() ![]() |
History
1 year old male with developmental regression.
Case Images
Diagnosis
Ganglioglioma – Spinal Cord
Findings
MR – Sagittal T2 and post-gadolinium T1 images of the spine show a long segment of cord expansion from the pontomedullary junction to the mid-thoracic cord related to patchy enhancing neoplasm and marked vasogenic edema.
Discussion
Ganglioglioma is a rare CNS tumor (~1% of CNS tumors). Gangliogliomas are composed of a mixture of neoplastic neuronal or ganglion and glial (usually astrocytic) cells; classification is based on the degree of differentiation of the neuronal or ganglion cells. Gangliogliomas are slow growing relatively benign tumors but have a recurrence rate of nearly 50%. Of totally resected spinal cord tumors, low-grade astrocytoma is most common followed by ganglioglioma and then ependymoma and high-grade astrocytoma. Gangliogliomas are associated with long segment or holocord involvement, reactive and tumoral cysts, scoliosis and bony remodeling.
Reference
Patel U, Pinto RS, Miller DC, et al. MR of spinal cord gangliogliomas. AJNR (1998); 19: 879-887.