A rare case of intramedullary cervical spinal cord meningioma and review of the literature.

STUDY

DESIGN

Case report.

SETTINGS: Department of Neurosurgery, Imam Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Daneshgah Street, Tabriz, East Azerbayjan, Iran.

REPORT: A 21-year-old man presented with progressive paraesthesia and weakness in the four limbs, with disturbances in the vibration and positional senses. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cervical intramedullary tumour from the cervicomedullary junction to C3. Radical resection of the tumour was performed and histology revealed a meningioma. His clinical outcome after a 3-year follow-up is relatively good.

CONCLUSION

Intramedullary cervical meningiomas are very rare and have been reported only five times before. Because of its tendency to recur after surgery and because of a possible aggressive behaviour, meticulous histopathological examination is mandatory to predict the evolution and plan the follow-up. Outcome is mainly related to the type of tumour and the complete removal.