Transpedicular Excision of a Thoracic Intraspinal Osteochondroma in a Patient with Hereditary Multiple Exostoses and Brown-Séquard Syndrome

Abstract

Background: Spinal osteochondroma is a rare but recognized cause of myelopathy. Brown-Séquard syndrome is a form of severe myelopathy characterized by a clinical picture of hemisection of the spinal cord. Brown-Séquard syndrome caused by osteochondroma is extremely rare, calling for individualized surgical procedures.

Case description: We report a 16-year-old girl with hereditary multiple exostoses and a rare case of thoracic osteochondroma causing partial Brown-Séquard syndrome. Customized surgical procedures were designed to avoid iatrogenic spinal cord injury. The patient underwent neural decompression and tumor excision through a transpedicular approach. The surgical procedure consisted of 4 consecutive steps: 1) laminectomy, 2) costotransversectomy and pediculectomy, 3) extracavitary removal of the mass, and 4) pedicular fixation with fusion. Total resection of the tumor was achieved macroscopically without intraoperative spinal cord injury. The postoperative recovery was uneventful, and the patient returned to a normal life without evidence of recurrence at 24-month follow-up.

Conclusions: For patients with hereditary multiple exostosis and new onset of neurologic symptoms, the possibility of a spinal osteochondroma should be considered. In the situation of an intraspinal exostosis protruding from the lateral side, customized surgical procedures with a transpedicular approach may be a valid way to minimize intraoperative neural injury and achieve a satisfactory outcome.

Keywords: Brown-Séquard syndrome; Osteochondroma; Surgical procedure; Thoracic; Transpedicular approach.