Long-term survival enhanced by cordectomy in a patient with a spinal glioblastoma multiforme and paraplegia. Case report.

Abstract

Spinal glioblastomas multiforme (GBMs) are rare lesions of the central nervous system with a prognosis as poor as that of their intracranial counterpart. The authors present a case of a 50-year-old man with a GBM of the spinal cord treated with surgical removal of the mass and cordectomy after the onset of paraplegia. Six years later, the patient developed hepatitis C and received interferon therapy. Six months after the start of interferon therapy, magnetic resonance imaging revealed a right cerebellar mass pathologically consistent with a GBM. Despite aggressive treatment, the patient died 1 month later. Although intracranial dissemination of spinal GBMs has been reported, this case illustrates the longest reported interval between the occurrence of a spinal GBM and its intracranial dissemination. Thus, cordectomy should be considered as a reasonable alternative in patients with complete loss of neurological function at and below the level where they harbor a malignant spinal cord astrocytoma.