Acute spinal cord compression caused by atypical vertebral hemangioma

Abstract

Vertebral hemangioma is common, benign lesion that occurs mostly in the body of vertebral bones and is mostly asymptomatic although they may occasionally extend into the posterior elements. An isolated location in the neural arch of vertebrae is extremely rare. An acute spinal cord compression by an exceptional hemangioma involving spinous process of the seventh thoracic vertebra and respecting vertebral body in a 40-year-old woman is reported. On magnetic resonance imaging of the spine, the lesion was hypointense on T1-weighted image, hyperintense on T2-weited image, and enhancing avidly, causing compression of spinal cord. Our case is exceptional by the rapidly character of symptom installation and by atypical and elective involvement of spinous process.

Keywords

• Cavernous hemangioma
• cord compression
• neural arch
• spine
• spinous process
• thoracic vertebra
• vascular malformation