Cervical spine chordoma of C3, C4 and C5

Chordoma, which is a rare bone tumor, originates from the embryonic notochord. The most common sites are the spine and skull base. It is a low grade, but malignant tumor that is located mostly in the sacrococcygeal region of the spine. Involvement of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine is an unusual site for chordoma in general neurosurgical practice, occurring in only 15% of cases. Surgery should be performed as the first treatment option. Even if the entire tumor has been resected, it frequently recurs locally. Distant metastases are uncommon. We present a 53-year-old woman with retropharyngeal C3, C4 and C5 mass. She presented with long-standing swallowing difficulty and neck pain. Surgery was performed with the anterior cervical approach and the final pathologic diagnosis was chordoma. We present the case with detailed clinical course, radiological findings, and pathological findings. Complete surgical resection is the first treatment option. Although it metastasizes less, local recurrence is common. In surgical treatment, gross total resection should be applied and radiotherapy should be given if residual is considered.