Upper cervical spinal bronchogenic cyst: A rare lesion at an exceptional location

Abstract

An intraspinal bronchogenic cyst is a rare but important cause of compressive cord myelopathy, commonly seen in the cervicothoracic spine. We report a case of a 30-year-old female, presented with complaints of neck pain and progressive weakness of the extremities. The magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine revealed an intradural extramedullary, well-defined, multiloculated, cystic lesion in the upper cervical canal extending from the C2 to C5 vertebral levels. To our knowledge, only 11 cases of spinal bronchogenic cysts have been reported in the literature so far. We discuss the rare location of this unusual lesion, possible embryological reasons, and the overall surgical outcome.

Keywords

• compressive myelopathy
• extramedullary
• intradural
• spinal bronchogenic cyst
• upper cervical