[Extended melanocytic tumor of the cervical spine. Apropos of a case of melanotic schwannoma].

A case of melanotic tumour was described localized close to the right cervical spine, destroying C6 and C7 vertebral bodies and pedicles, on a 27 years old woman. Histological and immunohistochemical findings, correlated with clinical and X-rays data, led up to the diagnosis of a melanotic schwannoma. Six years after the beginning of the illness, the outcome was preceded by a local vertebral involvement without metastasis and paradoxically with a good general state. The tumoral localization and the finding of nervous structures allowed to evoke a development from a cervical nerve root. On histological basis, we propose to classify this tumour along the new concept described by the Mayo Clinic pathologists team, under the name of psammomatous melanotic schwannoma. Some authors evoke a congenital outset in a context of endocrine disorders.