Lipome intramédullaire: à propos d'une observation

Intramedullary lipomas are rare benign lesions accounting for approximately 1% of bone marrow cancers. We report a new case of histologically confirmed non-dysraphic intramedullary lipoma. The study involved a 46-year old female patient who had undergone surgical biopsy for medullary lipoma 6 months before and who did not have radiological reports prior to this surgery. She suffered from rachialgias, sensory disorders, difficulties to walk and recently aggravated muscular weakness. Medullary MRI objectified well-defined mass presenting hypersignal on T1 and on T2 measuring 8cm x 2.5cm in the conus terminalis. Magnetic resonance imaging is the gold standard for the exploration of intramedullary lipomas. It allows early diagnosis as well as surgical management before the onset of irreversible neurological complications.