Abstract
Background
Originally described by Dahlin et al. in 1984, fibrocartilaginous mesenchymoma (FCM) constitutes a rare bone tumor of children and adolescents that mainly affects the long bones. A spinal location of this tumor is exceptional. Only two previous instances of vertebral FCM have been reported in the current literature, and both occurred in young adults.
Report of the case
We report the case of a 9-year-old boy with backache caused by a neoplasm that involved the Th12 vertebra treated with tumor excision. Histopathological diagnosis was confirmatory of FCM. During a follow-up period of 2 years, there was no evidence of disease progression. Our patient, thus, represents the first case of FCM occurring in a child.
Conclusions
Given the rarity of spinal FCM, there are no guidelines about its management. However, treatment of this neoplasm seems to be mainly surgical aiming at total removal of the lesion, if feasible, as FCM may recur locally.
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The authors state having no financial or other interest in the products or devices utilized and mentioned in this work and that they did not receive any funding for the production of this work.
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Martínez-Lage, J.F., Alarcón, F., Hernández-Barceló, J.E. et al. Fibrocartilaginous mesenchymoma of the spine in a child: a case report. Childs Nerv Syst 26, 385–389 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-009-1042-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-009-1042-0