[Pontine stroke secondary to a foramen magnum meningioma].

INTRODUCTION: Meningioma is one of the most frequent tumours affecting the central nervous system, with an estimated incidence of between 15 and 20% of all brain tumours. They are generally benign and slow growing. Their appearing as a cerebral infarction is very rare.

CASE REPORT: A right-handed 75-year-old female patient with a personal history of arterial hypertension, who visited the Emergency Department because of the sudden onset of severe dysarthria, accompanied by loss of strength in the left limbs, supranuclear facial palsy on the left side and Horner syndrome on the right. A computerised tomography scan of the brain revealed a lacunar infarct in said location, with no other appreciable damage. The neurovascular study included a transcranial Doppler, which was unable to insonate the left vertebral artery or the basilar artery. Magnetic resonance imaging of the head revealed a foramen magnum meningioma, with vertebrobasilar vascular distortion. The patient progressed favourably and was submitted to radiosurgery.

CONCLUSIONS: The case reported here is unique, since it describes a meningioma of the posterior fossa that appears in the form of the initial symptoms of a pontine stroke due to a vascular disorder.