Intradural extramedullary spinal tumors are surgically treatable lesions, but delayed diagnosis, particularly in low-resource settings, can result in irreversible neurological deficits. We present a case of a 37-year-old woman with a five-year history of progressive paraplegia due to a thoracic T4-T5 intradural extramedullary tumor, whose diagnosis and management were significantly delayed due to system-level limitations. This case illustrates the severe consequences of missed or delayed diagnosis of surgically treatable spinal tumors in resource-limited settings. Early MRI interpretation by trained specialists, timely neurosurgical referral, and availability of surgical adjuncts such as dural sealants are essential to prevent avoidable morbidity.
Musa et al. (Thu,) studied this question.