Abstract
An 11-year-old girl presented with vomiting, nystagmus, and ataxia. MRI showed a partially
enhancing medulla oblongata lesion and an adjacent nonenhancing cystic exophytic lesion.
An exophytic brainstem tumor was suspected. Histologically, the lesion was identified
as a neurenteric cyst (NC). On retrospective review, the NC was connected to the brainstem
by a subtle sinus tract. This led to brainstem inflammation which reversed once the
cyst was resected. We describe an unreported case of a patient with a NC at the craniocervical
junction connected to the brainstem through a sinus tract and discuss the possible
embryological abnormality and imaging features.
Keywords
neurenteric cyst - brainstem exophytic tumor - craniovertebral junction - MRI - children
