A Case of Facial Spasm Associated with Ipsilateral Cerebellopontine Angle Arachnoid Cyst

 

 Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

The authors report a rare case of right cerebellopontine angle cyst related to hemifacial spasm. The patient was a 66-year-old woman with a 3-year history of right hemifacial spasm. The cyst was diagnosed preoperatively by T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, which demonstrated a hyperintense area in the right cerebellopontine angle. A small artery was displaced by the cyst and compressed the root exit zone of the facial nerve. Decompression of the cyst and the vasculature using a microsurgical technique resulted in total recovery from hemifacial spasm.

• References

• 1 Campos-Benitez M, Kaufmann AM. Neurovascular compression findings in hemifacial spasm. J Neurosurg 2008; 109 (3) 416-420
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 2 McLaughlin MR, Jannetta PJ, Clyde BL, Subach BR, Comey CH, Resnick DK. Microvascular decompression of cranial nerves: lessons learned after 4400 operations. J Neurosurg 1999; 90 (1) 1-8
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 3 Nakagawa I, Takayama K, Kurokawa S , et al. Hemifacial spasm due to contralateral aneurysmal compression of the facial nerve successfully treated with endovascular coil embolization: case report. Neurosurgery 2011; 69 (3) E768-E771 , discussion E771–E772
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 4 Pierry A, Cameron M. Clonic hemifacial spasm from posterior fossa arteriovenous malformation. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1979; 42 (7) 670-672
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 5 Sprik C, Wirtschafter JD. Hemifacial spasm due to intracranial tumor. An international survey of botulinum toxin investigators. Ophthalmology 1988; 95 (8) 1042-1045
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 6 Katzman GL, Dagher AP, Patronas NJ. Incidental findings on brain magnetic resonance imaging from 1000 asymptomatic volunteers. JAMA 1999; 282 (1) 36-39
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 7 Samii M, Carvalho GA, Schuhmann MU, Matthies C. Arachnoid cysts of the posterior fossa. Surg Neurol 1999; 51 (4) 376-382
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 8 Babu R, Murali R. Arachnoid cyst of the cerebellopontine angle manifesting as contralateral trigeminal neuralgia: case report. Neurosurgery 1991; 28 (6) 886-887
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 9 Jannetta PJ. Trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm—etiology and definitive treatment. Trans Am Neurol Assoc 1975; 100: 89-91
  PubMedGoogle Scholar
• 10 Jannetta PJ. Observations on the etiology of trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm, acoustic nerve dysfunction and glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Definitive microsurgical treatment and results in 117 patients. Neurochirurgia (Stuttg) 1977; 20 (5) 145-154
  PubMedGoogle Scholar
• 11 Higashi S, Yamashita J, Yamamoto Y, Izumi K. Hemifacial spasm associated with a cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cyst in a young adult. Surg Neurol 1992; 37 (4) 289-292
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 12 Altinörs N, Kars Z, Cepoğlu C. Rare causes of hemifacial spasm. Report of two cases. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 1991; 93 (2) 155-158
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 13 Takano S, Maruno T, Shirai S, Nose T. Facial spasm and paroxysmal tinnitus associated with an arachnoid cyst of the cerebellopontine angle—case report. Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo) 1998; 38 (2) 100-103
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
• 14 Mastronardi L, Taniguchi R, Caroli M, Crispo F, Ferrante L, Fukushima T. Cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cyst: a case of hemifacial spasm caused by an organic lesion other than neurovascular compression: case report. Neurosurgery 2009; 65 (6) E1205 , discussion E1205
  CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar