स्पाइन जर्नल

Primary Spinal Epidural Rhabdomyosarcoma of the Upper Thoracic Spine

Abstract

Bouali Sofiene, Bouhoula Asma, Boubaker Adenane, Maatar Nidhal, Ben Said Kallel Jalel, Aouij Lassaad and Jemel Hafedh

Introduction: Rhabdomyosarcoma is a highly aggressive and rapidly growing sarcoma with skeletal origin that occasionally appears in the spinal epidural space.

Method: We report a 20-year-old girl who presented with back pain, progressive paraparesis, and urinary retention. She had muscular weakness in her lower extremities and absent deep tendon reflex. An epidural dumbbell-shape mass at T3-T4 level was observed on MRI. The patient underwent T3-T5 hemilaminectomy.

Result: Histopathological examination Immunohistochemical staining confirmed the diagnosis of alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. She received radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The patient died 3 months after.

Conclusion: Primary spinal epidural RMS is an extremely rare and very aggressive tumor. The treatment should focus on extensive resection with intensive combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.