Background: A patient presented with a spinal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and subdural hematoma (SDH) attributed to a spinal schwannoma at the T12-L1 level.
Case description: A 67-year-old male acutely presented with severe back pain and L1 paraparesis/sensory loss, with urinary incontinence. CT/MR studies showed a spinal SAH and SDH within a likely T12-L1 schwannoma. At surgery, the hemorrhage within the tumor was continuous through the lower pole of the tumor into the subarachnoid and subdural spaces; tumor was dissected away from the surrounding tissues and totally removed. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the preoperative neurological deficits gradually resolved. Histopathologically, the lesion was a schwannoma with intratumoral hemorrhage.
Conclusion: This case demonstrates the rare acute presentation of a T12-L1 schwannoma with an accompanying intratumoral hemorrhage resulting in both a SDH/SAH.
Keywords: Cauda equina; Intratumoral hemorrhage; Mechanism; Spinal schwannoma; Subarachnoid hemorrhage.
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