Partial median corpectomy for C2-C3 intradural arachnoid cyst: case report and review of the literature.

Anterior cervical location of arachnoid cyst is a rare and only 22 cases have been reported in the literature. The surgical approach was quite varied and mostly these cysts were accessed via dorsal laminectomy, with few patients developing postoperative neurological deficit. We report a 51-year-old male with a cervical arachnoid cyst extending from the dens to the inferior border of the C3 body, which was successfully decompressed via an anterior cervical approach through the partial corpectomy of C2. This is probably the first case report demonstrating the safety of anterior partial median corpectomy of the C2 body with micro discectomy of C2-C3 space for excision of the anterior cervical archnoid cyst. The additional advantage of this procedure is that it may not result in spinal instability.