intramedullary spinal cord lipoma

Intramedullary spinal cord lipomas not associated with dysraphism are infrequently reported. When present, they typically occur in children and have a predilection for the cervical and thoracic spinal cord.

In addition to a decompressive laminectomy, debulking of the lipoma provides the best long-term neurological outcome. Gross-total excision is not warranted and usually is not possible.

Long-term follow-up is needed, and repeat debulking of the lipoma is indicated if there is an increase in tumor size due to hyperplasia of residual adipocytes, when tumor growth is associated with neurological deterioration.

Types

 dysraphic intramedullary spinal cord lipoma
 non-dysraphic intramedullary spinal cord lipoma

References

 Nondysraphic pediatric intramedullary spinal cord lipomas: report of 5 cases. Fleming KL, Davidson L, Gonzalez-Gomez I, McComb JG. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2010 Feb;5(2):172-8. PMID: 20121366