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Primary extramedullary spinal germinoma: case report and review of the literature

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Abstract

The authors describe a case of a purely primary extramedullary spinal germinoma in a young Chinese male. Primary spinal germinoma is extremely rare tumor. Currently, less than 30 histologically verified spinal germinoma cases have been reported previously, mostly involving Asian of Japanese descent. This 24-year-old male suffered from progressive low back pain radiating to both legs. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a well-demarcated, intradural extramedullary mass at the level of L2 and L3. The lesion was totally removed and was confirmed as a germinoma. Upon histological verification of the tumor, he was treated successfully with radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy. This report also reviews the literature pertaining to primary spinal germinoma. Except for 16 cases with intramedullary lesions and five cases with both intra- and extramedullary tumors, there were only three previously reported cases of extramedullary spinal germinomas, all initially presenting with sausage-like lesions. To the authors’ knowledge, it is thought to be the first case of such a tumor, roughly round in shape and extramedullary location. Although rare, primary spinal germinoma do occur and should be included in the differential diagnosis of spinal tumors. Aggressive malignant behavior has been reported and close follow-up is necessary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Qiang Hu, Wenhua Yu, Quan Du, Qiang Zhu & Zhihao Che

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  1. Qiang Hu
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  2. Wenhua Yu
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  3. Quan Du
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  4. Qiang Zhu
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  5. Zhihao Che
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Correspondence to Wenhua Yu.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. For this type of study formal consent is not required. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Additional informed consent was obtained from all individual participants for whom identifying information is included in this article.

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Hu, Q., Yu, W., Du, Q. et al. Primary extramedullary spinal germinoma: case report and review of the literature. Neurosurg Rev 40, 171–176 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10143-016-0793-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10143-016-0793-9

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