Rare Symptomatic Osteochondroma of the Spine in a Very Old Patient

Abstract

Osteochondromas, are benign bone tumors that usually occur in the long bones, are rarely found in the vertebral column. When present in the spine, however, they have a predilection for the cervical or upper thoracic regions. Spinal osteochondromas tend to appear in young adults. The researchers present the case of a lumbar spine osteochondroma arising from the spinous process in 84-year-old man. The age of the patient in this report suggests that growth of the osteochondroma continues after skeletal development is completed. The symptoms disappeared after surgical removal of the lesions. Histopathologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of benign osteochondroma.