Abstract
A 38-year-old female was hospitalized with complaints of progressive motor weakness and numbness of all four extremities. The neurological findings were right accessory nerve palsy, tetraparesis, sensory impairment below the level of the C3 dermatome, and positive Romberg's sign. There was no evidence of von Recklinghausen's disease. Myelography, metrizamide computed tomography (CT) myelography, and enhanced CT revealed an intradural, extramedullary mass lesion at the C2 spinal level. Laminectomy was performed from C1 through C3. The tumor was located in the right C2 subarachnoid space lateral to the spinal cord and was connected to the right spinal accessory nerve trunk. It was totally removed. Histological examination revealed an Antoni type B neurinoma. The postoperative course was uneventful.
Spinal accessory nerve neurinoma is very rare; only 10 cases have been reported in the literature and, to the authors' knowledge, there have been no reports of such tumors confined entirely to the spinal canal. The authors believe this to be the first reported case.
