Ependymoma of the Cauda Equina

Summary

 Myxopapillary ependymomas are benign tumours which occasionally metastasize along cerebrospinal fluid pathways. Extraneural metastases of spinal ependymomas, however, are very rare, even more so when situated in the pleura.

 We report the case of a 67 year old woman presenting with shortness of breath after recurrent myxopapillary ependymomas of the cauda equina. Chest X-ray showed multiple pleural lesions diagnosed as metastases of a myxopapillary ependymoma. The MIB-1 proliferation index was 3.1% for the initial spinal tumour, 14.2% for the first and 11.2% for the second recurrence while 12.0% for the pleural metastasis.