Pozzo-Salvatierra BL, Saravia-Rivera G

Language: Spanish
References: 11
Page: 248-254
PDF size: 321.21 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Introduction. Vertebral hemangiomas are a common incidental finding in asymptomatic patients; however, there is a rare variety which may have aggressive behavior with extraosseous extension, conditioning devastating neurological sequelae.
Presentation of cases. Two young male patients, ages 28 and 33 years, with history of chronic dorsal pain and progressive paraplegia, one of whom presented an expansive lithic tumor in the vertebral body of T4 with extensions to the rachidian canal and the spinal cord; the second presented an extensive tumor in vertebral bodies T4 to T7, with extensions to posterior mediastinum, rachidian canal, and thoracic wall, with erosion and lysis of some costal margins. The diagnoses of aggressive hemangioma were confirmed by pathology: one of them after decompressive surgery and the other by biopsy.
Discussion. Sectional imaging methods are highly useful in detecting aggressive hemangiomas and should be considered for differential diagnosis in patients with myelopathic symptoms and with destructive lesions in the spinal column.

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