Hiccup and neurosurgeons: a report of 4 rare dorsal medullary compressive pathologies and review of the literature.

Objective: The aim of this study was to present 4 rare cases of medullary compressive lesions presenting with IH, to discuss the indications for neurosurgical decompression in such cases, and to review the possible etiologies of IH briefly.

Methods: The reported cases include (1) a 19-year-old adolescent boy and a 21-year-old man with Chiari I malformation and cervical syrinx compressing or tightening the cervico-medullary junction; (2) a 35-year-old man with ependymoma extending from the lower half of the fourth ventricle to C1/C2 junction and compressing this part of the medulla; and (3) a 16-year-old adolescent boy who was referred to the emergency department in severe distress because of IH, occurring as a result of a distal PICA aneurysm located on the floor of the lower triangle of the fourth ventricle.

Results: Surgical decompression in all the cases was successful in withholding the hiccups.

Conclusion: The dorsal medullary area is not an unusual location for genesis of hiccup. When encountering a case of IH, appropriate CNS imaging studies should be included in the evaluation protocol.