Abstract
Intracranial germinoma is most commonly found in the pineal and suprasellar regions.
The medulla oblongata and fourth ventricle are rare sites of primary germinoma, with
only 12 previous patients reported, all from the Far East. To our knowledge, we report
the first patient from Europe. A 25-year-old female of Afro-Caribbean origin presented
with several weeks of worsening migraines, dizziness, tachycardia and veering to the
right whilst walking. MRI revealed a lesion in the fourth ventricle, which was treated
with surgical debulking and post operative radiotherapy. Two months following completion
of radiotherapy, MRI showed almost complete resolution of the enhancing disease within
the primary tumour area and no intraspinal pathological enhancement. This patient
highlights the importance of considering germinoma in the differential diagnosis of
all medullary masses with extension into the fourth ventricle irrespective of geographic
location.
Keywords
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References
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- Primary Germinoma in the medulla oblongata.Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo). 2011; 51: 326-329
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 18,
2012
Received:
November 8,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
