A case report of craniovertebral junction intradural extramedullary neurenteric cyst

Abstract

A neurenteric cyst of the craniocervical (CV) junction, as a cause of bulbomedullary compression, is very rare. An abnormal communication between the endoderm and neuroectoderm during the third week of embryogenesis may be responsible for its formation. It is a rare spinal condition. The most frequent location is at the lower cervical and higher thoracic spine. Neurenteric cysts of the craniocervical junction are even rarer. We report the case of a CV junction intradural neurenteric cyst. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of our patient demonstrated an intradural extramedullary process of the craniocervical junction. A surgical posterior approach allowed gross total resection of the lesion. The histopathology of the surgical specimen showed that the cyst wall was made up of fibrocollagen walls lined with a partially ciliated columnar epithelium.

Keywords

• Craniovertebral junction
• extramedullary
• intradural
• neurenteric cyst enterogenous cyst
• endodermic cyst
• endoderm
• neuroectoderm