[A case of clival chordoma without bone destruction]

A case of clival chordoma without bone destruction is reported. A 28-year-old man was admitted to Kagoshima University Hospital on April 8, 1983 with the complaints of headache, displopia and gait disturbance. Neurological examination revealed the right eighth, ninth, tenth nerve palsy and gait disturbance. Plain skull firms showed no abnormality and left vertebral arteriography revealed a displacement of basilar artery to the left side. The CT scanning showed a low density area at the retroclival region, and enhancement was acquired slightly. Metrizamide cisternography, CT cisternography showed retroclival round tumor and no destruction of the bone. The tumor which invaded intradurally was removed totally. Histological examination confilmed the chordoma. In this report, it will be stressed that when clival chordoma invades intradually, subtemporal approach will be most favorable, and metrizamide CT cisternography is one of the useful diagnostic procedures of retroclival mass.