Findings: (First and Second Image)Coronal and axial T1-weighted images after the administration of contrast demonstrate a large, left paraspinal mass in the mid and lower thoracic region, with extension of the mass through the neural foramine and into the spinal canal, with resultant compression of the spinal cord. Third ImageAxial T1-weighted image after contrast reveals a left adrenal mass.
Diagnosis: Neuroblastoma
Discussion: Neuroblastoma is the third most common malignant neoplasm of childhood after leukemia and brain tumors. It may arise anywhere along the sympathetic chain but most commonly involves the abdomen, usually arising from the adrenals.Fifteen percent of all neuroblastomas arise in the thorax. They may metastasize early to liver, bone, bone marrow, lymph nodes and skin. Prognosis is variable with some regressing spontaneous, some maturing into benign ganglioneuromas, but many disseminating and progressing rapidly into a life-threatening disease.
Submitted by: