Intradural Extramedullary Capillary Hemangioma in the Upper Cervical Spine: First Report.

Abstract

The occurrence of intradural extramedullary capillary hemangiomas is exceedingly rare. To date, only 39 cases of intradural extramedullary capillary hemangiomas have been reported in the English literature, and all of these cases have been described at the lumbar and thoracic spinal levels. To our knowledge, this report is the first case of capillary hemangiomas of the cervical spine in the literature. In general, this entity is misdiagnosed preoperatively as a neoplasm. A 29-year-old man presented with neck pain and progressive gait disturbance, and was diagnosed with an intradural extramedullary capillary hemangioma in the cervical region. Although rare, our case demonstrates that capillary hemangioma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intradural extramedullary tumor of the cervical spine.