Atypical Presentation of Cervical 3-4 Disc Herniation - A Case Report -

Case Report

Korean J Spine 2007;4(2): 70-71.

Tag-Geun Jung, M.D., Jee-Soo Jang, M.D., Sang-Ho Lee, M.D.

Department of Neurosurgery, Gimpo Airport Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, Korea
Department of Neurosurgery, Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, Korea

Atypical Presentation of Cervical 3-4 Disc Herniation - A Case Report -

Tag-Geun Jung^, M.D.^, Jee-Soo Jang^, M.D.^, Sang-Ho Lee^, M.D.

Department of Neurosurgery, Gimpo Airport Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, Korea
Department of Neurosurgery, Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

The authors describe the case of a 31-year-old woman who presented with a 4-month history of neck pain and a radiculopathy of her left arm and a 4-year history of numbness of the left side of her face. The facial numbness was in the area of the maxillary and mandibular divisions of the trigeminal nerve. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the diagnosis of a herniated disc at the C3-4 level. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion(ACDF) at the C3-4 level was done, and the patient subsequently experienced improvement in her neck pain, radiculopathy involving her left arm, and left-sided facial numbness. This may be the first report of an improvement in facial numbness after ACDF and the diagnosis may be thought as a cervicogenic trigeminal neuropathy.

Keywords: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion(ACDF)ㆍFacial numbnessㆍCervicogenic trigeminal neuropathy