Background: Cavernous malformations (CMs) are clusters of thin-walled sinusoidal vessels without well-defined walls. Though they can occur anywhere in the neuroaxis, cranial nerve (CN) CMs are rare.
Method: We report a 47-year-old male with gradual CN III palsy. Initial imaging showed no significant findings, but a follow-up MRI revealed a growing lesion along CN III. Intraoperative findings confirmed a CN III CM. Diagnosing and treating CN III CM are complex. Radiological findings lack specificity, requiring consideration of various diagnoses for patients with isolated CN III palsy and abnormal radiological findings.
Conclusion: Surgery is the gold standard, aiming for complete lesion removal while minimizing neurological complications.
Keywords: CN III; Cavernous malformation; Cavernous malformation resection; Cranial nerve; Intracerebral hemorrhage; Lack of pathognomonic features; Nerve transection; Oculomotor nerve; Skull base; Vascular lesion.
© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.