Abstract
A giant chordoma originating in the clivus was found in a 26-year old female. At 13 years of age she had had polyneuritis after chickenpox, and a tumor of the nasopharynx was found coincidentally, but a definitive pathological diagnosis was not made even after repeated examinations in our clinic.In March, 1991 at 26 years of age, she visited our clinic again with a complaint of bilateral nasal obstruction. A giant cystic tumor was found in the nasopharynx, and she was admitted. Pathological examination in tissues obtained from a second operation revealed chordoma. The origin was considered to be the clivus because of its location on plain skull films, CT and MRI. The tumor had destroyed the apex of the pyramidal bone and invaded the intracranial space, showing severe kinking of the ponto-medullary junction of the brainstem. The tumor was partially removed by a transoral, and transpharyngeal approach and retromastoid craniectomy. The pathological diagnosis was typical chordoma, but it was considered to be unusual because the patient had not had symptoms of cranial nerve disturbance for 13 years.
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