MR Findings of a Primary Intramedullary Malignant Melanoma: Case Report and Literature Review
Dordaneh Farrokha,
Patrick Fransena and
Daniel Faverlya
a From the Department of Radiology, University Hospital Saint-Pierre (DF), the Department of Neurosurgery, Clinique du Parc Leopold (P.F.), and the Pathology Laboratory CMP, (D. Faverly), Brussels, Belgium.
View larger version (80K):
[in a new window]
|
FIG 1. Sagittal T1-weighted MR image shows the spinal cord tumor at the level of the conus medullaris, which has a slight and homogeneous signal hyperintensity relative to that of the cord.
FIG 2. Sagittal T2-weighted MR image shows that the mass, compared with the spinal cord, is somewhat hypointense.
FIG 3. Sagittal contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MR image shows mild homogeneous enhancement in the tumor
| |
View larger version (89K):
[in a new window]
|
FIG 4. Axial T1-weighted images demonstrate the intramedullary position of the tumor, which occupies nearly the entire spinal canal.
A, Nonenhanced image.
B, Gadolinium-enhanced image shows mild homogeneous enhancement in the lesion
| |
View larger version (185K):
[in a new window]
|
FIG 5. Low-magnification photomicrograph shows that the tumor is highly cellular. Nuclear anaplasia has a tendency to form clusters of cells resembling the structure of a nevus (hematoxylin-eosin, magnification x 250). The inset shows the tumor invading the nervous structures (stars)
| |
View larger version (160K):
[in a new window]
|
FIG 6. Photomicrograph shows that some nuclei of the epitheloid malignant cells contain nuclear inclusions (arrows) (hematoxylin-eosin, magnification x 1000). The inset shows that a large amount of melanin pigment masks the spindle-shaped malignant cells
| |
