Massimi Luca, Battaglia Domenica, Paternoster Giovanna, Martinelli Diego, Sturiale Carmelo, Di Rocco Concezio
Pediatric Neurosurgery, Catholic University Medical School, Rome, Italy.
J Child Neurol. 2009 Mar;24(3):365-9. doi: 10.1177/0883073808323027.
Segmental spinal myoclonus rarely occurs in association with spinal cord tumor. Only 3 cases have been reported in children so far, mainly concerning astrocytomas of the thoracic spinal cord. We report on a 2-year-old boy suffering from segmental spinal myoclonus involving the upper limbs and harboring a cervical tumor. The clinical and electrophysiological features ruled out a myoclonus of different origin (cortical, subcortical, propriospinal) other than other types of movement disorders. Neuroimaging and histological examinations showed the exceptional presence of a ganglioglioma as the cause of the segmental spinal myoclonus. The clinical and electrophysiological characteristics as well as the possible etiopathogenesis and differential diagnosis are discussed on the basis of the pertinent literature to add some more information about the unusual association between spinal cord tumors and spinal myoclonus.
节段性脊髓肌阵挛很少与脊髓肿瘤相关联。迄今为止，儿童中仅报道过3例，主要涉及胸段脊髓星形细胞瘤。我们报告了一名2岁男孩，患有累及上肢的节段性脊髓肌阵挛，并伴有颈椎肿瘤。临床和电生理特征排除了除其他类型运动障碍之外的不同起源（皮质、皮质下、脊髓固有）的肌阵挛。神经影像学和组织学检查显示，节段性脊髓肌阵挛的病因罕见地为神经节胶质瘤。我们根据相关文献讨论了临床和电生理特征以及可能的病因和鉴别诊断，以补充有关脊髓肿瘤与脊髓肌阵挛之间异常关联的更多信息。
