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Long-standing pain in a 25-year-old patient with a non-diagnosed cervical osteoblastoma: a case report

  • Orthopaedic Surgery
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Abstract

Benign osteoblastomas are infrequent tumors, representing less than 1% of all bone tumors. The spinal location accounts for 40–50% of all osteoblastomas from which only 20% are located in the cervical spine. The majority of the spinal osteoblastomas arise from the posterior elements: pedicles, laminas, transverse or spinous processes. We present a case report of a young male that due to the lack of specific symptoms was diagnosed of a cervical osteoblastoma 14 months after the first symptoms. The tumor was located in the right C7 pedicle. We then operated, resected the tumor and a posterior C6-T1 bilateral instrumentation was performed to stabilize the spine. Nowadays, this delay in diagnosis may be avoided by the routine use of MRI or CT for unspecific cervical symptoms. The treatment of this lesion is the complete surgical resection based on a correct preoperative planning with CT and MRI in order to define precisely the location, size and extension of the tumor. Currently, percutaneous or minimally invasive surgery is not commonly used in the treatment of this lesion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery (Spine Unit and Muscular-skeletal Oncology Unit), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain

    A. Combalia Aleu & D. Popescu

  2. Department of Radiology, Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, 08036, Barcelona, Spain

    J. Pomes

  3. Department of Pathology, Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, 08036, Barcelona, Spain

    A. Palacin

Authors
  1. A. Combalia Aleu
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  2. D. Popescu
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  3. J. Pomes
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  4. A. Palacin
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Correspondence to D. Popescu.

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Combalia Aleu, A., Popescu, D., Pomes, J. et al. Long-standing pain in a 25-year-old patient with a non-diagnosed cervical osteoblastoma: a case report. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 128, 567–571 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-007-0401-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-007-0401-0

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