title: Intradural Extramedullary Capillary Hemangioma in the Upper Cervical Spine: First Report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although rare, our case demonstrates that capillary hemangioma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intradural extramedullary tumor of the cervical spine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Neurology, Tunis, Tunisia. Electronic address: sofienebouali@hotmail.fr.
authors.forename: Sofiene
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouali
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Neurology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Nidhal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maatar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Neurology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Asma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bouhoula
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Neurology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Khansa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abderrahmen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Neurology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Jalel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kallel
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, National Institute of Neurology, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Hafedh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jemel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D018324:Hemangioma, Capillary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: Capillary hemangioma; Cervical spine; Extramedullary; Intradural