Primary intramedullary melanoma of lumbar spinal cord: A case report

Abstract

Background: Primary intramedullary melanoma is a very rare tumor, most frequently occurring in the cervical and thoracic spinal cord.

Case summary: We present a rare case in which the primary intramedullary melanoma was located in the lumbar spine. A 56-year-old man complained of progressive intermittent pain in the lumbar area. Thoracic magnetic resonance imaging showed a spinal intramedullary tumor between the L3 and S1 levels. The tumor was resected entirely, and the diagnosis of malignant melanoma was confirmed by histopathology.

Conclusion: Primary melanoma of the spinal cord, particularly intramedullary localization, has rarely been reported in the previous literature. We describe a primary malignant melanoma of the lumbar spinal cord and discuss the challenges associated with the diagnosis.

Keywords: Case report; Histopathological examination; Immunohistochemical staining; Intramedullary melanoma; Lumbar; Magnetic resonance imaging; Spinal cord.

Figure 1

Magnetic resonance imaging analysis of spinal cord lesion. A: Sagittal T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); B: Sagittal T2-weighted MRI; C: Homogeneous contrast enhancement on axial T1-weighted images with gadolinium.

Figure 2

Histological analysis of the tumor tissue. A: Hematoxylin and eosin staining showing the tumor cells (× 200); B-G: Immunohistochemical staining for S-100, homatropine methylbromide-45, p53, vimentin, cytokeratin, and Ki67, respectively (× 400).