'Serpent in the spine': a case of giant spinal ependymoma of cervicothoracic spine.

We describe a case of giant spinal ependymoma of cervicothoracic spine in a 30-year-old lady who presented with progressive spastic paraparesis and significant combined upper and lower motor neuron signs in her lower limbs over a 1-year period. She also had upper limb small muscle wasting with absent reflexes and diminished sensation. She was wheel chair bound with involvement of sphincters. Neuroimaging revealed a uniformly enhancing intramedullary lesion from C2-T3 level with associated syringomyelia. She underwent a complete excision of this World Health Organisation (WHO) II cellular ependymoma, resulting in significant clinical outcome and improvement in bladder and bowel function.