Get a Group Membership for your Organization. Free Trial
Pricing
Free TrialLogin

Spinal Hemangioblastoma

HIDE
PrevNext

0:00

I'm back with my colleague,

0:01

Dr. Ben Laser,

0:02

talking about a 29-year-old with Von Hippel-Lindau.

0:05

We've got an axial pre and post-contrast T1 FLAIR,

0:08

enhancing nodule with a cystic mass,

0:11

the most common type,

0:13

35% of hemangioblastoma presentations.

0:17

Although when the nodule has a cyst inside it,

0:19

that's a little less frequent.

0:21

And this one does.

0:22

So, strictly speaking,

0:23

it's a lower percentage, like 6% to 12% for this type.

0:26

And then the solid type,

0:27

which is the second most common,

0:29

usually smaller.

0:30

We've got one in the lateral cerebellar hemisphere,

0:33

and we've also got another one down lower,

0:34

so a second one.

0:36

So now I would ask you,

0:37

what do we do as radiologists now?

0:39

What should we be doing besides giving a

0:42

diagnosis or differential diagnosis?

0:44

So the next step would be to actually image the

0:47

entire neural axis, pre and post-contrast.

0:49

Okay, let's do that.

0:51

Let's pull down a cervical spine image from this patient,

0:54

which was done with contrast.

0:56

And we can scroll up and down with our eye,

1:00

and scroll side to side with our mouse.

1:03

And as we scan up and down with our eye,

1:06

we come upon this thing.

1:07

You might say to yourself, really?

1:09

That small?

1:10

Are you going to call a hemangioblastoma

1:12

for a lesion that small?

1:13

Well, the answer is yes, they are that small.

1:16

Now, the major differential diagnosis here is maybe you're

1:19

catching a small kink in some peel vessels,

1:22

but they usually sit along the dorsal spine.

1:25

They're usually like little cherry-red nodules

1:27

right in the back of the spine.

1:29

And a lot of surgeons will go after these

1:32

because they bleed very readily.

1:34

So if they bleed in the spine,

1:35

it's a lot more catastrophic,

1:36

where you don't have a lot of space than if they bleed

1:39

in the cerebellum.

1:40

That's not good either.

1:41

But they are very vascular.

1:43

So, often, they have to come out at a small size.

1:45

So now we scan up and down, don't see any others.

1:49

Let's check out the thoracic spine.

1:52

Let's scroll back and forth.

1:54

And there is a nodule right there.

1:57

Very tough to see.

1:58

I'm going to blow it up for you in a minute.

2:00

There's a nodule that's a little more clear,

2:02

also very tough to see.

2:03

You're going to say,

2:04

"Really? That small?"

2:05

And the answer is,

2:06

"Absolutely. That small."

2:08

These have to be very carefully watched.

2:10

There's one of the nodules right there.

2:11

And let's zoom out and show you the second nodule.

2:14

Here's the second nodule right here.

2:17

It's a little more round, as opposed to, say,

2:19

the peel vessels, which are more linear.

2:21

Those are peel vessels there.

2:22

Here is a nodule of Von Hippel-Lindau,

2:25

another very small hemangioblastoma.

2:28

So, there are different subtypes of hemangioblastoma.

2:31

Type one is von Hippel-Lindau without Pheo.

2:34

Patients have renal and pancreatic cysts,

2:36

renal cell carcinoma.

2:37

This is the most common type.

2:38

The second most common type, or the type two, actually,

2:42

is Von Hippel-Lindau with Pheo.

2:44

So we break them down without Pheo and with Pheo.

2:47

And you have 2A,

2:48

islet cell tumors can occur here without cysts.

2:50

2B, renal and pancreatic disease.

2:54

So, in summary,

2:55

what are the places that you look in Von Hippel-Lindau?

2:59

You look in the spine.

3:00

How about in the brain?

3:01

What's the triad in the brain you got to look?

3:03

Posterior fossa, cerebellar hemisphere,

3:06

the eyes, retinal hemangioblastoma,

3:09

and then the internal auditory canals

3:10

and the temporal bone.

3:12

Looking for?

3:13

Endolymphatic sac tumor.

3:14

All right, Pomeranz and Laser out.

Report

Description

Faculty

Stephen J Pomeranz, MD

Chief Medical Officer, ProScan Imaging. Founder, MRI Online

ProScan Imaging

Tags

Syndromes

Spine

Pediatrics

Neuroradiology

Neoplastic

Musculoskeletal (MSK)

MRI

Brain

© 2024 MRI Online. All Rights Reserved.

Contact UsTerms of UsePrivacy Policy