Ecchordosis physaliphora
Last edit by Alaric Steinmetz on
Ecchordosis physaliphora is a very rare benign lesion in the region of the clivus, which usually remains asymptomatic. In rare cases, the tumor compresses adjacent structures and causes clinical symptoms and can then easily be mistaken for a chordoma. It resembles this malignant lesion in phylogenetic, clinical, imaging, and histological characteristics[^1]. However, since the therapy and prognosis of the two tumor entities differ fundamentally, pretherapeutic classification is relevant.
Epidemiology
Ecchordosis physaliphora is incidentally found in only 0.5 – 5% of an MRI imaging of the skull base and discovered in 0.5–2% at autopsies[^1].
Imaging
