Source
Department of Neursurgery, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich, Germany. Stefan.grau@med.uni-muenchen.de
Abstract
STUDY DESIGN:
Case report and clinical discussion.
OBJECTIVE:
We intend to report a very rare case of a giant spinal hemangioma causing myelopathy.
SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:
Multilevel symptomatic spinal hemangiomas causing acute neurologic symptoms are rare disorders. We found only sporadic reports in English literature.
METHODS:
We describe a very rare case in which Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome is associated with a multisegmental vertebral hemangioma causing a rapidly progressing thoracic myelopathy.
RESULTS:
Because of the extension of the disease, surgical intervention was not feasible, the patient was treated by radiotherapy. The patient showed a complete regression of symptoms with stable condition after 3 months.
CONCLUSIONS:
In extensive spinal hemangiomas, radiotherapy may represent a safe treatment modality with rapid clinical improvement even in cases with spinal cord compression. This report contributes to a wide range of known vascular abnormalities in Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome and supports the need for a careful multisystemic evaluation of these patients.