High cervical disc herniation presenting with C-2 radiculopathy. Case report and review of the literature.

Abstract

The authors report the case of a 78-year-old man with a C2-3 disc herniation that had migrated rostrally, causing C-2 radiculopathy. The C-2 radiculopathy manifested immediately after the patient underwent placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt for normal-pressure hydrocephalus. Myelography and computerized tomography scanning of the cervical spine revealed an extradural lesion anterolateral to the thecal sac eccentric to the right. The patient underwent a C1-3 laminectomy, C-2 nerve root decompression, and excision of the lesion. Postoperatively the patient's radiculopathy resolved completely. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case of a C2-3 disc herniation manifesting as C-2 radiculopathy and treated via a posterior extradural approach.