Ependymomas are slow-growing tumors in the central nervous system. In spinal cord, ependymoma is the most common neuroepithelial tumor (15% of all spinal cord tumors). Ependymoma of the spinal cord with retrograde intracranial metastasis is rare. This study reported a 31-year-old female with thoracic anaplastic ependymoma (WHO grade III) who had received surgical intervention for removal of thoracic ependymoma twice at an interval of seven months due to local recurrence. After the second operation, rapid progression of seeding from spinal cord to brain developed in three months. Other case reports of spinal ependymoma with intracranial metastasis were reviewed and seven other cases with interval of local recurrence, location of intracranial metastasis, outcome, and pathology were also collected.