title: Neurenteric cyst of the cervicothoracic junction: A rare cause of paraparesis in a paediatric patient.
abstract: Neurenteric cysts are rare congenital spinal masses that result from the dysgenesis of the endoderm tissue during development. We report a 4-year-old girl who presented with an insidious onset of lower limb paraparesis. An MRI scan revealed a cervicothoracic intradural extramedullary neurenteric cyst at the thoracic T1/T2 level, with marked spinal cord compression. No associated spinal dysraphism was noted. The patient underwent laminotomy and excision of the cyst. She recovered her neurological functions completely post-operatively, and at her six-month follow-up she was asymptomatic without any neurological deficits. We will discuss the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and neuroradiological findings. We emphasize the value of early surgical intervention and long-term follow-up when this type of lesion is only partially excised.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sheaufung
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taufiq
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nawawi
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Naicker
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Waran
mesh_terms: D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D020335:Paraparesis / Q000209:etiology*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology