Bilateral traumatic neuroma of the anterior cervical nerve root: case report.

STUDY DESIGN Case report. OBJECTIVES A rare case of anterior cervical second root traumatic neuroma with no history of trauma is reported, and possible etiology is discussed. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Traumatic neuroma is the reactive, nonneoplastic proliferation in the injured nerve. Several atypical locations of traumatic neuroma have been reported. To date, only 4 cervical traumatic neuroma cases with no history of trauma have been reported, and, to our knowledge, there is no case of bilateral cervical traumatic neuroma published in the literature. METHODS A patient with a history of neck and left upper extremity pain, who had hypoesthesia in left C2 dermatome on neurologic examination is presented. A left C2-C3 hemilaminectomy and tumor extirpation were performed. RESULTS A histopathologic study revealed features of a typical traumatic neuroma. The patient had no deficits on her postoperative neurologic examination, and her neck and left arm pain improved. The unusual location of this lesion and possible etiology of such a traumatic neuroma are discussed. CONCLUSIONS A rare case of anterior bilateral cervical second root traumatic neuroma with no history of trauma is reported. An unnoticed history of trauma may play an etiologic role in the development of these lesions.