Hemangioblastoma of the filum terminale associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease: a case report.

[von hippel-lindau disease]

We report a 41 -year -old man who presented with low back pain , lower extremity paresthesia , urinary retention and constipation . Magnetic resonance imaging showed a vascular intradural-extramedullary lesion at the second lumbar vertebral level . His medical history revealed that he had undergone surgery for a cerebellar hemangioblastoma 5 years ago . The patient underwent a spinal operation and a vascular tumor was removed from filum terminale . Pathologic examination of the tumor revealed a hemangioblastoma . Hemangioblastomas may occur sporadically or in association with von Hippel-Lindau disease . In the second case , they are often multiple and accompanied by cerebellar and brainstem lesions . The hemangioblastomas reported in the conus medullaris or in the extramedullary compartment adjacent to the conus medullaris are rare , tumors of the cauda equina are uncommon , and lesions of the filum terminale are extremely rare . We report a patient with von Hippel-Lindau disease having filum terminale hemangioblastoma and discuss the diagnosis , pathogenesis and treatment of hemangioblastoma .