Radiologically atypical congenital posterior fossa dermoid cyst presenting late in life

We report the case of a 74-year-old woman who presented with deterioration in gait, short-term memory loss and urinary incontinence. She had a past history of excision of a cervical dermal sinus tract at the age of 5 years. CT scan in 2004 revealed ventriculomegaly and an extremely hypodense ovoid structure lying in the midline low posterior fossa with calcification anteriorly. On MRI, the lesion was hypointense on T1-weighted and hyperintense on T2-weighted images, with incomplete suppression on fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery images and marked restriction on diffusion weighted images. Cerebrospinal fluid isotope study revealed non-communicating hydrocephalus. Posterior fossa crainectomy and removal of the lesion was undertaken. Pathological study revealed a dermoid cyst. Post-operatively, her hydrocephalus persisted and a ventriculo-atrial shunt was inserted with excellent functional recovery.