Surgical management of cervical intramedullary cavernoma: case report and systematic review of the literature

Cavernous malformations can occur throughout the cerebral nervous system, most commonly located in the supratentorial compartment. The intramedullary location is rare and accounts for approximately 2.4% to 5% of all spinal vascular tumors. The cervical cord location and its clinical manifestations are underreported.

The authors report a case of spinal cord compression at the C5–C6 level by a cervical intramedullary cavernoma with a systematic review of the literature according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and meta-analysis guidelines. Relevant studies (1980 to 2023) that reported patients with cervical intramedullary cavernoma were identified from PubMed databases.

A total of 29 studies reporting 423 patients were included in this study with a mean age of 40.5 ± 6.3 years old. The overall male-to-female ratio was 1:2.5 with a median duration of follow-up of 46 months [18.5–63.9]. The type of resection as well as the patient’s outcome was also reported.

Intramedullary cavernous angiomas are rare. Early surgical total resection of the symptomatic lesions in adequate conditions is crucial for good outcomes.