Hemifacial spasm associated with a cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cyst in a young adult

There are no reported cases of hemifacial spasm associated with an arachnoid cyst in the literature. We report the first case of hemifacial spasm with an ipsilateral cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cyst in a 25-year-old man. The patient underwent evacuation of the arachnoid cyst by a partial membranectomy without any beneficial effect, and finally got rid of the hemifacial spasm by reexploration and microvascular decompression of the facial nerve. The operative findings and results revealed that the cyst produced deviation of the ipsilateral posterior inferior cerebellar artery, which was secondarily in contact with the root exit zone of the facial nerve.