Intraspinal granular cell tumor: a case report and review of literature

Granular cell tumor is a rare neoplasm and is usually benign in nature. GCT can arise anywhere in the body but intraspinal GCT is extremely rare. GCT is difficult to distinguish from intraspinal meningioma, schwannoma or metastatic carcinoma preoperative as its atypical clinical features as well as nonspecific radiological characteristics. A 35-year-old female patient presented with cervical pain and progressive numbness in her left upper and right lower extremities for the past 7 months. She complained of 4 months of slight weakness in her lower extremities and gait disturbances as well. MRI confirmed an intradural extramedullary tumor at the C4 to C5 levels that significantly circumferentially compressed the spinal cord. A C4-C5 laminectomy was performed and the lesion was completely resected. The tumor proved to be a GCT according to pathology. The patient is alive symptom-free and without evidence of tumor recurrence at 44 months of follow-up. GCT should be considered in a differential diagnosis of intraspinal masses despite its rarity. Removal of as much of the lesion remain the first choice whenever possible, they have a tendency for local recurrence if completely excision not achieved. Distinction between malignant and benign intraspinal GCT should be a focus of diagnosis to avoid improper therapeutic management.