Aims and background: Intramedullary teratoma is an extremely exceptional tumor (5 cases), although a careful review of international literature has shown it to be more frequent (32 cases) than believed.
Methods: The authors present a personal case with some unusual aspects.
Results: Our case is unusual not only because it was diagnosed by MRI (only one case has been reported in the literature) but also because surgical removal of the tumor was apparently total (only 4 other cases have been described), with a long follow-up period (4.5 years) and excellent results, in clinical and neuroradiologic terms.