Intradural pleural malignant mesothelioma.

Abstract

Pleural malignant mesothelioma is a rare tumour of the pleural epithelium, which progresses by infiltration into the lung parenchyma, the chest wall, and the mediastinum. Haematogenous spreading may occur in the late stages of the disease. Spinal involvement is exceptional and usually occurs in the vertebral body or epidural space, and intradural location of a mesothelioma is even more uncommon. In this article, a MEDLINE literature review on intradural mesothelioma was conducted and four intradural mesothelioma cases in the English literature were retrieved: one in the intradural extramedullary location and three with intramedullary growth. Additionally, we report a 50-year-old patient with a pleural malignant mesothelioma that spreads across the dura into the spinal cord at T5.