Fig. 1

Case 5. This 58-year-old male patient experienced a significant deterioration for his neurological condition several months and presented with neck pain and dysesthesia and was unable to walk properly. a preoperative sagittal T2-weighted MR image: spinal extramedullary tumor locates anterior to the spinal cord in the craniocervical region. b preoperative axial T2-weighted MR image: this lesion leads to destruction of the C1 posterior arch. c postoperative sagittal T2-weighted MR image: the tumor has been removed completely. d postoperative X-ray: occiput-C2 fixation has been used by cervical pedicle screws and occipito-cervical plates. e CT images at the final follow-up: the success of spinal fusion using autologous iliac bone. f postoperative photograph: a well-encapsulated tumor is more than 5 cm across, and pathology report confirms the diagnosis of schwannoma