Aggressive vertebral hemangioma masquerading as neurological disease in a pediatric patient

Abstract

Aggressive hemangioma is a rare vertebral lesion in pediatric patients which can present with deteriorating neurological function. It can mimic malignancy on imaging, particularly as it regularly has an extrasosseous soft tissue component. We present a case of a 13-year-old male who presented with a three month history of lower extremity weakness that was found to have an infiltrative mass at T10 with associated cord compression from epidural extension of the lesion. In this report we review the characteristic imaging findings associated with aggressive hemangioma, including its appearance on read-out segmented diffusion-weighted images. It is imperative that radiologists who interpret studies of children be aware that this lesion exists and what it looks like, as it can be associated with massive hemorrhage if encountered unexpectedly during surgery.