Spinal cord compression caused by fibroblastic reticular cell tumour (FRCT) originating from thoracic spine.

The authors present the first reported case of a fibroblastic reticular cell tumour (FRCT) presenting with spinal cord compression. FRCT are the rarest subset of dendritic cell tumours, a specific group of haematological malignancies. FRCTs reportedly behave similar to low grade sarcomas as opposed to malignant tumours. We present the case of a 45 year old female presenting with a two and a half week history of a flu-like illness and one week history of lower limb imbalance. MRI revealed an extradural lesion at T3/4 compressing the spinal cord. Initially the patient was presumed to have metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) and the patient underwent a decompressive thoracic laminectomy with debulking of the lesion with follow-up adjuvant radiotherapy. However, histology identified a unique primary FRCT originating from spine, not secondary MSCC. There were no histologically aggressive features likely contributing to the favourable outcome following surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy. Her post-operative recovery was unremarkable and she recovered fully. Although rare, we report the first case of FRCT originating in the spine causing spinal cord compression. The clinical presentation of the case, histological features of FRCT and the treatment options are reviewed.