Recurrence of clival chordoma along the surgical pathway

Chordomas are locally aggressive malignant tumors of notochordal origin who se metastatic potential is increasingly recognized. Surgical pathway recurr ence has been noted only rarely in the literature. We present three patient s with clival chordomas whose sole or initial recurrence was along the path way of prior surgical access. A characteristic mass found along the pathway of prior surgical access for resection of a chordoma should suggest recurr ent chordoma.