We retrospectively evaluated the MR findings of pathologically proven spinal neurinomas and meningiomas to find out the differential points between them. Twenty patients had 21 neurinomas, 7 patients had 7 meningiomas, and one patient had one meningioma and 3 neurinomas(24 neurinomas/8 meningiomas). The MRI scans were obtained with a 2.0T superconducting MR system(Spectro-20000; Gold Star, Korea) except for one(0.5T). Spin-echo(SE) pulse sequences were employed in most cases, and shape of the tumors. Most neurinomas were isointense or slightly hypointense compared to the signal intensity of the spinal cord on the TI-weighted images(TIWI) and isointense or markedly hyperintense on the T2-weighted images(T2WI). On T2WI, 10 out of 24 neurinomas showed an inhomogeneous signal intensity. The causes of inhomogeneity were cystic change, calcification, hemorrhagic necrosis, and fibrosis. The long diameters of neurinomas were about 1-12cm in length. Sixteen were intradural, 6 were intradural with extradural extension, and 2 were only extradural in location. After Gd-DTPA injection, 12 out of 17 neurinomas showed strong enhancement, in which the signal intensity was similar to that of fatty tissue. All meningiomas had homogeneous signal intensity, and most of them were isointense compared to the spinal cord on TIWI and T2WI. Seven showed moderate enhancement in which the signal intensity was slightly lower than that of fatty tissue. The long diameters were about 1.5-4cm in length. One tumor had extradural extension, and the other was located in the extradural area. In conclusion, we believe that MR is useful as a primary imaging modality for evaluation of spinal neurinomas and meningiomas, and Gd-DTPA enhancement is effective in differentiating these tumors.