A rare case of neurosarcoidosis occurred only in the medulla oblongata mimicking malignant brain tumor

BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disorder characterized by noncaseating epithelioid granulomas. However, neurosarcoidosis occurring only in the medulla oblongata is very rare and lacks specific imaging and clinical features. We report a rare case of neurosarcoidosis arising from the medulla oblongata alone, suggesting the significance of pathological findings for accurate diagnosis. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 78-year-old woman with a history of rheumatoid arthritis was admitted to our hospital with a 3-month history of progressive numbness in bilateral lower extremities and gait disturbance. Neurological examination on admission showed mild bilateral paired paralysis of the lower limbs (manual muscle test: right 2/V; left 4/V) and marked numbness in the right lower limb. Neuroimaging revealed a solid mass with clear boundaries in the dorsal medulla oblongata appearing hypointense on T1-weighted imaging (WI), hyperintense on T2-WI, and hypointense on diffusion WI (DWI), with strong enhancement on gadolinium-enhanced T1-WI. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed moderately elevated levels of protein and lymphocytic cells. Biopsy to determine the exact diagnosis revealed histological findings of noncaseating epithelioid granulomas and inflammatory infiltration, consistent with sarcoidosis. Postoperatively, corticosteroid therapy with prednisolone was initiated as soon as possible, resulting in marked reductions in lesion size. Follow-up neuroimaging after 12 months showed no signs of recurrence. CONCLUSION: Neurosarcoidosis is difficult to diagnose from routine neuroimaging and laboratory findings. Accurate diagnosis requires careful identification of clinical signs, hypointensity on DWI, and morphological findings from surgical biopsy.