2. Materials and methods2.1. PatientThe 32-year-old male patient was admitted to Xiangya Hospital in 2006 and presented with progressive back and neck pain, and numbness and weakness of both legs which had continued for 1 month followed by fecal and urinary retention for 5 days. The MRI (1.5 Tesla) of the brain and entire spinal cord showed multiple lesions in the cerebellum, brain stem, and spinal cord, which were obviously enhanced and highly suggestive of hemangioblastomas (Fig. 1a–e). Subsequent evaluation, by MRI, of the abdomen revealed a solid kidney tumor (Fig. 1f). He underwent surgical resection for hemangioblastomas of T10 and T12 of the spinal cord, which appeared bright red at surgery. The pathological examination of the tissues showed many small blood vessels, most of which were a capillary plexus. Vascular endothelial cells were flat and distributed within a large number of stromal cells. Some of the vascular endothelial cells formed solid masses and cords. Between the capillary plexus, various forms of stromal cells were found, including nest-like or sheet arrangements with hyperchromatic nuclei, rich cytoplasm, rich lipid vacuoles and rare or no mitoses. Some foam cells and adipose-like cells were also found. Immunohistochemistry of the biopsied tissues from the lesions in the spinal cord were negative on immunostaining (–) for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), CD68, cytokinin (CK)-pan and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), but stained positive (+) for factor 8 related antigen (F8RAg). Vascular endothelial cells were F8RAg(+) but stromal cells were F8RAg(–). Vascular endothelial cells and stromal cells were all immunonegative for GFAP, EMA, CK-pan, and CD68 (Fig. 1g, h). The patients’ symptoms resolved after surgery. At 5-year follow-up his condition did not recur or deteriorate, but active surveillance was continued.12Download : Download high-res image (1MB)Download : Download full-size imageFig. 1. Main clinical manifestations of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. (a) Sagittal T1-weighted MRI of the thoracic spinal cord showing two brightly enhancing nodular lesions with clear boundaries at T10 and T12 (arrows). (b) Sagittal T1-weighted MRI of the cervical spinal cord showing two brightly enhancing nodular lesions with clear boundaries at C5 and C6 (arrows). (c) Sagittal T1-weighted MRI of the cervical spinal cord showing a brightly enhancing nodular lesion with a clear boundary at C2 (arrow). (d) Sagittal T1-weighted MRI of the cranial–cervical region showing three brightly enhancing round lesions with clear boundaries at the posterior of the medulla oblongata, superior spinal cord and basilar part of the pons (arrows). (e) Axial T1-weighted MRI of the brain showing two brightly enhancing nodular lesions with clear boundaries at the posterior of the medulla oblongata and the right cerebellar hemisphere (arrows). (f) Sagittal T1-weighted MRI of the kidney showing the small (1.2 cm × 0.6 cm) enhancing nodular lesion (arrow). (g) Histopathological examination of the lesions at T10 and T12 in the spinal cord of the patient with VHL (hematoxylin and eosin stain, ×400). (h) Immunohistochemistry of the biopsied tissue from the lesions at T10 and T12 in the spinal cord of the patient with VHL (factor 8 related antigen stain, ×400).After genetic counseling, all family members of the patient (his parents, sister, son, sister’s son, brother, and brother’s son) were recruited into this study. His 66-year-old father and 63-year-old mother were both in good health without clinical symptoms of VHL. They did not undergo a whole-body examination, but all other family members underwent clinical examination, including ophthalmoscopy, MRI of the CNS, and ultrasonography of the abdomen, to exclude the disease. Informed consent was obtained from all individuals before their participation in the study.