Abstract
Adult posterior fossa arachnoid cysts are rare lesions that are considered to be mostly congenital in origin. We present 49-year-old man admitted with a chief complaint of tremor and balance problems for the past 2 months. He had ataxia on examination. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well circumscribed midline cystic lesion of the posterior fossa sharing the same signal characteristics as cerebrospinal fluid and non-communicating to the fourth ventricle. He underwent surgical treatment for his symptomatic posterior fossa arachnoid cyst with a good outcome at 2 years follow up.
Highlights
Arachnoid cysts (AC) are developmental collections of cerebrospinal-like fluid covered by arachnoid epithelium
Adult posterior fossa arachnoid cysts are rare lesions that are considered to be mostly congenital in origin
Most arachnoid cysts are located in the middle cranial fossa [1]; localizations in the posterior fossa are uncommon
Summary
Arachnoid cysts (AC) are developmental collections of cerebrospinal-like fluid covered by arachnoid epithelium. They are believed to result from congenital malformations that can change during postnatal life. AC involving the posterior fossa may be asymptomatic or may produce a wide variety of posterior fossa symptoms with little specificity such as headache, ataxia, dizziness, tinnitus, and hearing loss [2]. Different methods of surgical treatment have been reported including cystoperitoneal shunting, cyst fenestration and radical resection [3].
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