Intraspinal thoracolumbar dermoid. Case report

A dermoid is a congenital tumour. An intraspinal dermoid tumour is very rare. Most reported cases have been in children. The oldest case in literature was 40 years old. We report a case in which a 46 year old woman had a thoracolumbar intraspinal dermoid. The dermoid was partially removed by operation. The condition of the patient improved. Control MR-scan showed that the remaining tumour extended up to the level of the tenth thoracic vertebra. If radical tumour removal is difficult, e.g. due to strong capsule-tissue adherence or long tumour extension, it seems to be advisable not to force radicality but to follow the clinical course and to reoperate if tumour growth causes new symptoms.