Intramedullary spinal cord cavernous angioma in children: case report and literature review

Introduction Intramedullary cavernous angiomas (ImCA)
of the spinal cord are very uncommon malformations
especially in the pediatric population where only ten cases
have yet been reported within the available literature.
Case report In this paper, the authors report the case of a 12-
year-old girl presenting with a T11 level hematomyelia
because of a cavernous angioma. Microsurgical excision
was performed with good clinical outcome and no magnetic
resonance imaging evidence of residual cavernoma 30months
later.
Discussion Despite the small number of cases reported in
children, this one contributes to the literature identifying
special features of presentation and management of ImCA for
pediatric patients. Because a higher risk of recurrent bleeding
has been demonstrated for ImCA, with dramatic clinical
consequences, microsurgical removal remains the only
definitive treatment.