Figure 1.
Anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of the cervical vertebrae of a 33year-old female.
a: anteroposterior radiograph; b: lateral radiograph. The patient was admitted to our hospital with primary complaints of neck and back pain for 4 years, with pain radiating to the right upper arm and numbness in right hand for 3 years.
Figure 2.
Preoperative CT scan shows a lesion located at the posterior elements of the C7 vertebra.
There is an expansile lesion with cortical destruction and surrounding sclerosis. The boundaries are unclear and mottled densities of calcification can be seen within the lesion.
Figure 3.
Preoperative MRI demonstrates single cystic lesion with cortical destruction at the posterior elements of C7 vertebra and slight edema of the surrounding soft tissues.
Enhanced MRI shows a rich vascular supply to osteoid tissue, and the image has been enhanced significantly. a,b: T1 and T2 weighted image; c: enhanced MRI.
Figure 4.
Preoperative MRA reveals no abnormalities of the cervical arteries.
Figure 5.
Postoperative AP and lateral radiographs of cervical vertebrae.
a: anteroposterior radiograph; b: lateral radiograph. The patient underwent posterior cervical en bloc resection of the tumor, spinal cord decompression, pedicle screw internal fixation as well as spinal fusion using a bone graft.
Figure 6.
Postoperative CT scan showing the extents of en bloc resection of the tumor and decompression.
Figure 7.
En bloc excised tumor tissue.
Figure 8.
Pathological findings reveal that the tumor stroma contains mature osteoblasts, which are round or oval in shape and have a rich cytoplasm.
No nuclear atypia are present. The tumor consists of anastomosing trabeculae of woven bone produced by osteoblasts, and shows deposition of calcium salt.