Primary spinal melanoma of the cervical leptomeninges: report of a case with brief review of literature

Abstract

Central nervous system primary malignant melanoma accounts for approximately 1% of all melanomas. Primary spinal melanomas are even more unusual. We report a patient with primary spinal melanoma of the cervical leptomeninges. The histology of the tumor showed tumor cells arranged in sheets, ill-defined fascicles and nests and displayed a moderate grade of cellular and nuclear pleomorphism and mitoses with abundant pigment in the cytoplasm. The tumor cells were immunoreactive for HMB-45, and for S-100.