The authors describe two clinical observations of intrathoracic meningocele in neurofibromatosis 1, extending from vertebrae C7-Th4 bilaterally, in a 33-year-old woman, manifested by vertebroscapular pain and spastic paraparesis of the lower extremities and at the level of Th7-Th8 on the right in a 42-year-old woman with manifest chest and abdominal pain and asymmetrical spastic paraparesis of the lower extremities. In the first case spastic paraparesis of the lower extermities was caused by localized atrophy of the spinal cord in an ectatic dural sac, in the second case by angular scoliosis of the spine. The authors describe radiological symptoms of vertebral and meningeal dysplasia in neurofibromatosis 1 and emphasize the importance of some signs in the differential diagnosis of dural ectasia and neurofibromas. The decisive method in the diagnosis of intrathoracic meningocele is magnetic resonance tomography of the spine.

        Key words: intrathoracic meningocele, neurofibromatosis 1, vertebral and meningeal dysplasia in neurofibromatosis 1