Intramedullary dorsal dermoid cysts are rare benign tumors, arising from the nests of embryonic ectoderm, which get buried or trapped under the lines of fusion of the ectodermal folds in the developing embryo. We present a rare case of intramedullary dermoid cyst in a 30-year-old asymptomatic female, who presented with paraplegia and ataxia. Magnetic resonance imaging was suggestive of neoplastic intramedullary mass. Intraoperatively, findings were suspicious of tuberculosis, but on final histopathological evaluation, the final and definitive diagnosis of intramedullary dermoid cyst was rendered. The postoperative phase was uneventful.
Keywords: India; asymptomatic; histopathological diagnosis; intramedullary dorsal dermoid cyst; nonspecific imaging.
Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).