Intradural arachnoid cysts are rare lesions that frequently arise posterior to the spinal cord in the thoracic spine region. Those located at the cervical spine level, anterior to the spinal cord are even rarer. The usual treatment of symptomatic intradural spinal cysts involves surgical removal through a posterior approach using a laminectomy or laminotomy. However, ventrally located intradural cysts are frequently not amenable to complete resection without undue manipulation of the cord and aggressive removal through a posterior approach may result in spinal cord injury. The authors present a 29-year-old male harbouring an intradural ventral cervical arachnoid cyst which was successfully resected via an anterior approach with corpectomy and reconstruction.
Conclusion: For purely ventral cervical intradural arachnoid cysts, which compress the spinal cord dorsally, an anterior approach can allow access to the lesion without any need for intraoperative manipulation of the spinal cord. For such cases, the anterior approach prevents the consequent risk of neurological injury due to posterior approaches.