= ANGIOBLASTOMA = ANGIORETICULOMA
Prevalence: 17.2% of all spinal cord tumors; mostly sporadic
Associated with: Von Hippel-Lindau disease (in ⅓)
Recommendation: screening MR imaging of brain + spine in patients with Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome
Age: middle age; M÷F = 1÷1
Path: nonglial highly vascular discrete nodular masses abutting leptomeninges with prominent dilated + tortuous vessels on posterior cord surface
Histo: large pale stromal cells of unknown origin packed between blood vessels of varying sizes
Location: intramedullary (75%), radicular (20%), intradural extramedullary (5%); thoracic cord (50%), cervical cord (40%); solitary in >80%, multiple lesions indicate Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome + require screening of entire spine
Site: subpial aspect of dorsal spine; may extend exophytically into subarachnoid / extradural space
Angio:
MR:
Cx: intramedullary hemorrhage, hematomyelia, subarachnoid hemorrhage (rare)
DDx: arteriovenous fistula (not well circumscribed, heterogeneous signal intensity)