C2 spinal nerve tumors in young adults: report of two cases and review of the literature.

C2 spinal nerve schwannomas are rarely encountered, especially in children and young adults. Due to their localization surgical management encompasses a number of distinctive features. We describe two cases of C2 spinal nerve tumors, schwannoma and neurofibroma, in patients aged 13 and 17, respectively. Both patients presented with compressive cervical myelopathy due to large tumors at C1-C2 level with extra-intracanal hourglass extension. Despite prominent tumor size and location of their component ventrally to the spinal cord, our selected surgical approach allowed, in both instances, total tumor removal with minimum surgical trauma and no neurological deficit.