Accessory nerve neuroma presenting as recurrent jugular foramen syndrome

We report a patient with spontaneous recovery and recurrence of a jugular foramen syndrome secondary to an accessory nerve neuroma. He showed sudden onset of unilateral palsy of the ninth, tenth and eleventh cranial nerves in 1982. He recovered almost fully and in 1990 the palsies recurred. MRI revealed a small mass in the right jugular foramen. The tumour was resected via suboccipital craniectomy, and diagnosed as a neuroma of the eleventh cranial nerve.