Cervical dumbbell-type tumor spontaneously shrinking following an ischemic stroke

Background: Asymptomatic cervical dumbbell-type tumors can be incidentally diagnosed. Notably, the chronological changes in the size of these tumors have not been satisfactorily described.

Case description: A 57-year-old man was clinically followed for an asymptomatic cervical dumbbell-type tumor that had the appearance of a schwannoma on magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained over a 7-year period. Notably, the tumor compressed both the spinal cord and the right vertebral artery. At the end of the 7-year period, the patient sustained a cerebral infarction due to atherosclerosis of the right vertebral artery; the angiogram revealed both atherosclerosis and the tumor compressing the right vertebral artery. After the stroke/ischemic event, the tumor progressively shrunk on MR images obtained for the following 4 years, and the spinal cord compression was similarly relieved.

Conclusion: Here, we report on a 57-year-old man with cervical MR images revealing that a cervical dumbbell schwannoma was progressively compressing both the spinal cord and the right vertebral artery. However, following a cerebral infarction, the tumor underwent spontaneous shrinkage over the next 4 years, thus relieving the compression.