SYNOVIAL CYST OF DENS CAUSING SPINAL-CORD COMPRESSION - CASE-REPORT

We report a rare case of synovial cyst of the dens (odontoid process) in a 61 year old women with no previous history of trauma. She had pro gressive symptoms of 1 year's duration due to spinal cord compression. Magnetic resonance imaging of cervical spine revealed a large mass po sterior to the dens which was compressing the spinal cord near the cer vicomedullary junction. This lesion was at first considered radiologic ally to represent an exuberant pannus formation or a meningioma of the foramen magnum, but subsequent surgical intervention and pathological examination revealed that it was a synovial cyst. Similar cases repor ted in the literature are reviewed and discussed.