Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
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Dumbbell tumours are those with an intraspinal and a paraspinal component, connected through a frequently enlarged and eroded intervertebral foramen. Most dumbbell tumours are located in the thoracic spine, and most of them are schwannomas. ⋯ Controversy exists as to whether to remove thoracic dumbbell tumours using a single posterior approach with posterolateral extension or using a combined posterior and transthoracic approach. We report the removal of a dumbbell neurinoma at T6/7 using a single posterior midline approach with laminectomy and costo-transversectomy and review the literature regarding the approaches to thoracic dumbbell tumours.