What is Germinoma of the Spinal Cord?
Germinoma of the spinal cord is a rare type of cancer of the brain and spinal cord that usually affects children between the ages of 10-19 years. During fetal life—the period of development when the fetus grows inside the mother’s uterus—sex cells that are unable to leave the brain proliferate abnormally and cause spinal cord germinoma.Disease Causes
These are rare types of cancers and account for only 2.1-3.5% of all types of brain and spinal cord cancers. It forms as a result of the germ cells failing to depart from the developing fetus’s brain in the mother’s uterus.Signs and Symptoms
The patient may suffer from the following signs and symptoms. These are- Pain and numbness in the legs
- Difficulty in walking
- Dribbling of urine
- Difficulty in holding urine
- Inability to pass urine
- Pain in the abdomen
- Weakness of muscles
- Poor strength of muscles
Diagnosis
The following diagnostic tests and procedures can be used to make a diagnosis. These are;- Imaging techniques like Chest X-ray, CT-scan, MRI, and PET scan to see the site, size, and extent of the tumour.
- Tumour biopsy (tumour biopsy to remove a small sample of tissue for histopathological examination)
- USG-guided fine needle aspiration cytology