Solitary osteochondroma arising in lumbar spinous process: Case report

Abstract

Solitary osteochondromas rarely occur in the axial skeleton. Those tumors mostly arise on the posterior elements of the cervical column causing various symptoms especially when developing within the spinal canal. Exophytic lumbar variety is uncommon presenting with palpable mass or spinal deformity. The authors report the case of a 20-year-old man presenting with a solid painless palpable mass at the lower lumbar region. Plain radiographs showed a well-defined calcified lesion between L3 and L4 spinous process. Computed
tomography demonstrated an exophytic lesion arising in the third lumbar spinous process appearing to be a solitary osteochondroma. The lesion was treated by en-bloc resection;
histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of osteochondroma with no evidence of recurrence at the end of 2-year follow up. The incidence of lumbar solitary osteochondromas is certainly underestimated in relation to difficulty of diagnosing asymptomatic lesions. Lumbar location is unusual and developing in spinous process is extremely rare.

 

DOI: 10.3944/AOTT.2015.14.0334

This abstract belongs to the un-edited version of the article and is only for informative purposes. Published version may differ from the current version.

Keywords

• Osteochondroma;lumbar spine;spinous process;tumor;diagnostic imaging;Surgery