CASE REPORTS   

Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences 2001 June;45(2):114-9

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Chondrosarcoma of the thoracic spine: total en bloc sagittal resection. A case report

Mandelli C. ¹, Bernucci C. ¹, Mortini P. ¹, Tartara F. ¹, Scomazzoni F. ², Giovanelli M. ¹

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, RCCS San Raffaele, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; ² Department of Neuroradiology, IRCCS San Raffaele, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

Chondrosarcomas locat­ed in the ­spine are uncom­mon ­tumors and are chal­leng­ing to man­age. A ­case of a 65-­year-old man ­with a T3-T4 ­spine chon­dro­sar­co­ma is report­ed. The ­onset of symp­toms con­sist­ed in pro­gres­sive dor­sal ­pain ­with some­times a gir­dle-­like radi­a­tion and, suc­ces­sive­ly, in dys­aes­the­sia and pares­the­sia ­from the low­er ­limbs to the tho­rac­ic ­region. After pre­op­er­a­tive onco­log­ic and sur­gi­cal plan­ning the ­patient under­went a ­total en ­bloc resec­tion of the ­mass. No post­op­er­a­tive adjunc­tive neu­ro­log­i­cal def­i­cits ­were record­ed. An adju­vant radi­a­tion ther­a­py ­with a ­dose of 5.500 cen­ti­grays (cGy) ­over ­four ­weeks was per­formed. At one ­year fol­low-up the ­patient is ­alive ­with no ­signs of recur­rence on computed tomographic ­scans and magnetic resonance imaging. We dis­cuss ­this ­case ­with par­tic­u­lar empha­sis on the pre­op­er­a­tive plan­ning, the sur­gi­cal pro­ce­dure and relat­ed prog­no­sis.