Acute neck pain caused by atlanto-axial instability secondary to pathologic fracture involving odontoid process and C2 vertebral body: treatment with radiofrequency thermoablation, cement augmentation and odontoid screw fixation

Abstract

Introduction: Cervical spine metastases are relatively rare entities. Only about 10 % of all spinal metastases can be found in this localization. Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography are routinely used for early detection. The initial, clinical examination and patients' complaints may not always be very prominent. Treatment of such lesions is very challenging and needs to consider patient's comorbidities, quality of life and life expectation. Surgery for these lesions should always be performed in specialized spine units.

Case presentation: We present here a clinical history of a 67-year-old male with acutely occurring neck pain and some neck discomfort for last 2 weeks. No previous neck pain history or trauma. There were no neurological symptoms, only a slight tremor in the left upper extremity. The detailed past medical history of the patient revealed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes mellitus (DM type II), and smoking 30-pack-year. The first cervical spine X-ray did not demonstrate any pathological findings. We performed a CT scan, which demonstrated a lytic lesion involving the vertebral body of C2 with collapse of odontoid process and subsequent C1-C2 instability. In the next step, because of no medical history of cancer, we performed CT scan of the chest and abdomen, and found a suspicious mass in the right main bronchus and liver. We suggested a bronchial biopsy of the mass but the patient refused this procedure and requested only surgery for the C2 lesion. The patient underwent the described surgical procedure through high anterior cervical approach. We collected the tissue for histology, and performed radiofrequency thermoablation, cement augmentation, and odontoid screw fixation. The patient made an uneventful recovery and 2 weeks after surgery he was able to start his palliative chemotherapy for bronchial carcinoma, which was diagnosed based on biopsy acquired during this procedure.

Discussion: There are no specific guidelines regarding treatment of secondary lesions of C2 with instability at C1-C2 level. We describe here an interesting approach for the management of lytic lesions of C2 which may be used also at other levels of cervical spine. We did not observe any leakage of cement into the spinal canal. This procedure allows for fast recovery of patients, with early unrestricted range of motion, and beginning of early chemotherapy.