Delayed Diagnosis of Thoracic Schwannoma Misinterpreted as Perineural Cyst: A Case Report of Chronic Neuropathic Pain with Favorable Surgical Outcome

Background: To present a rare case of schwannoma cyst imitating perineural cyst. Case presentation: A 61-year-old woman with 5-year history of thoracolumbar spine pain. MRI T2 in 2019 revealed round extradural lesion at the Th6/Th7. It was misdiagnosed then as Tarlov cyst. In 2024 MRI was retaken and cyst was diagnosed as schwannoma. Later, in that year patient underwent surgical resection. Conclusions: Schwannoma may be misdiagnosed as Tarlov cyst, yet their treatment is significantly different. This is not the first case of such misdiagnose so it is essential to promote this topic and improve overall awareness.