Fayisa Shimalis, Ghozy Sherief, Zarrinttan Armin, Bilgin Cem, Kallmes David F
Department of Radiology, Care Land General Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Neuro-Vascular Research Lab, Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Radiol Case Rep. 2024 Dec 3;20(2):1182-1188. doi: 10.1016/j.radcr.2024.10.156. eCollection 2025 Feb.
Spinal cord tuberculoma is a clinically significant form of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis, despite its rarity. It leads to considerable neurological deficits and morbidity. Accurate diagnosis and early intervention depend on radiologic imaging, typically MRI, which reveals T2 hypointensity with rim enhancement, forming a ``target sign'' characteristic of caseous stage tuberculoma. In this article, we present 3 cases of spinal cord tuberculoma without adjacent vertebral involvement; 2 cases affect the lower thoracic region, while one involves the cervical cord. All patients exhibited some degree of body weakness, which improved following the initiation of anti-tuberculosis treatment. Also, we discuss the role of MRI in diagnosing spinal cord tuberculoma, highlighting its characteristic findings, and review recent literature on the topic.
脊髓结核瘤是肺外结核的一种具有临床意义的形式，尽管其较为罕见。它会导致相当程度的神经功能缺损和发病率。准确的诊断和早期干预依赖于放射影像学检查，通常是MRI，其显示T2低信号并伴有边缘强化，形成干酪样期结核瘤的特征性“靶征”。在本文中，我们报告了3例无相邻椎体受累的脊髓结核瘤病例；2例累及下胸段，1例累及颈髓。所有患者均表现出一定程度的身体虚弱，在开始抗结核治疗后有所改善。此外，我们讨论了MRI在诊断脊髓结核瘤中的作用，强调其特征性表现，并回顾了关于该主题的近期文献。
