Cerebellopontine angle paraganglioma.

BACKGROUND

Acoustic neuroma account for 80% of cerebellopontine angle tumors. Paraganglioma is a rare tumor in this region.

OBJECTIVE

The authors report a case of cerebellopontine angle paraganglioma arising from the anterior inferior cerebellar artery.

RESULTS

The clinical and radiologic features were indistinguishable from those of a neuroma, and only the intraoperative view showed a vascular tumor. Definitive diagnosis was made by histopathologic methods.

CONCLUSIONS

This unique paraganglioma location may be explained by existing embryologic data. The minimal retrosigmoid approach, assisted by endoscopy, allows safe and complete removal of the tumor.