Case of the Week
Section Editors: Matylda Machnowska1 and Anvita Pauranik2
1University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2BC Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Sign up to receive an email alert when a new Case of the Week is posted.
October 22, 2012
Spinal Epidural Angiolipoma
- Angiolipomas are benign soft tissue-vascular tumors, rarely seen in the CNS. When seen, they are mostly located in the posterior epidural space of the thoracic spinal canal, and account for 0.14% of all spinal axis tumors.
- They are composed of normal adipose tissue and blood vessels, likely arising from pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells.
- Clinical presentation: acute or sub-acute motor, sensory, and autonomic disturbances.
- Key Diagnostic Features: Multisegmental, often posterior, spinal epidural mass, predominantly hypodense on CT, hyperintense on T2WI and T1WI, with hypointense foci on T1WI and intense contrast enhancement. May extend through neural foramina into paravertebral soft tissues. Rarely, bone invasion can be seen.
- DDx: hemangioma, schwannoma, meningioma, metastasis, lymphoma
- Rx: surgical excision
Current Issue
Case Collections
