title: Coexistence of neurofibroma and meningioma at exactly the same level of the cervical spine.
abstract: We report a case of the coexistence of different spinal tumors at the same level of the cervical spine, without neurofibromatosis (NF), which was successfully treated with surgery. A 72-year-old female presented with right upper-limb clumsiness and weakness. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradural, extramedullary tumor mass at the right C3-4 level with extradural extension into the intervertebral foramen. The extradural tumor was removed, and the pathology showed neurofibroma. After incision of the dura, the intradural tumor was removed, and was identified as meningioma in the pathological report. The patient did not meet the criteria of NF. Coexistence of neurofibroma and meningioma at exactly the same level of the spine without NF is extremely rare. Exploration of the intradural space may be necessary after resection of an extradural tumor if the surgical finding does not correlate well with the preoperative images.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Kai-Yuan
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Jau-Ching
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Shih-Cheih
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: wchuang@vghtpe.gov.tw.
authors.forename: Wen-Cheng
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Henrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008579:Meningioma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D009455:Neurofibroma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery
keywords: coexistence; meningioma; neurofibroma; neurofibromatosis; spinal tumor