Differential Diagnosis and Surgical Management of Cerebellopontine Angle Cystic Lesions

Abstract

Cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors in adults are mainly benign and extra-axial. Although the most common CPA lesion (vestibular schwannoma) is familiar to most neurosurgeons, cystic lesions of the CPA do pose an important diagnostic challenge demanding a careful consideration of a wide range of differential diagnosis including: epidermoid cysts, arachnoid cysts, cystic schwannomas, cystic meningiomas as well as other rare entities such as vascular and malignant tumoral lesions. The authors present a critical review of the current literature on cystic CPA lesions, providing an overview about possible differentials as well as guidelines for preoperative imaging evaluation of a cystic CPA lesion.