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Advanced Neurology

CASE REPORT
Intracranial arachnoid cyst complicated with

subdural hygroma in a 10-year-old child: A case
report and literature review

Inas El Kacemi, Yao Christian Hugues Dokponou* , Rosina T. Gyamera, Mehdi
Hakkou, Mohammed Y. Oudrhiri, Mahjouba Boutarbouch,
Adyl Melhaoui, Yasser Arkha, and Abdessamad El Ouahabi
Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed V University of Rabat,
Rabat, Morocco

Abstract

Arachnoid cysts are abnormal collections of fluids within the arachnoid membrane
after a doubling of the structure. These benign lesions represent only 1% of all
intracranial space-occupying lesions. The affected patient can remain asymptomatic
for several years, which is an incidental finding in most cases. Cysts have been reported
to rupture after a minor head trauma, causing subdural hygroma or hematoma;
however, spontaneous rupture complicated with subdural hygroma has been
rarely reported. Herein, we report a rare case of a 10-year-old boy whose pregnancy
*Corresponding author:
Yao Christian Hugues Dokponou follow-up, delivery, and parent’s medical history were unremarkable. The patient
(huguesprenicias_ was admitted for a temporal arachnoid cyst complicated with subdural hygroma,
dokponouyaochristian@um5.ac.ma) which was determined to be caused by intracranial hypertensive syndrome. He
Citation: Kacemi IE, Dokponou was successfully treated through endoscopic arachnoid cyst fenestration, wherein
YCH, Gyamera RT, et al. a pathway was created for the cyst to communicate with the subarachnoid space
Intracranial arachnoid cyst
complicated with subdural hygroma through the basal cisterns. The choice of treatment for arachnoid cysts remains
in a 10-year-old child: A case report controversial. Endoscopic treatment is considered when an ipsilateral subdural
and literature review. Adv Neuro. hygroma is present. Intracranial hypertensive syndrome subsided immediately after
2025;4(2):128-134.
doi: 10.36922/an.3948 surgery. No post-operative complications occurred. The child recovered uneventfully
in the post-operative period and was discharged 5 days after surgery. He underwent a
Received: June 15, 2024
follow-up computed tomography 1 month later, confirming a progressive regression
Revised: September 4, 2024 of the hygroma as well as arachnoid cyst.
Accepted: October 21, 2024
Published online: November 13, Keywords: Subdural hygroma; Pediatrics; Sylvian arachnoid cysts; Endoscopic treatment;
2024 Case report
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution 1. Introduction
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, Arachnoid cysts (ACs) are congenital, benign, and intra-arachnoid fluid collections. An
provided the original work is
properly cited. AC contains cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) without connection to the ventricular system and
is usually not accompanied with abnormal brain development.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with ACs are leptomeningeal-lined CSF collections characterized by hyperplastic
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional arachnoid cells. These congenital lesions represent approximately 1% of all non-
1
affiliations. traumatic intracranial mass lesions. Although the exact mechanism of AC formation

Volume 4 Issue 2 (2025) 128 doi: 10.36922/an.3948