A hepatocellular carcinoma revealed by paraplegia caused by a vertebral metastasis

Described is a 57-year-old male with a complaint of a gait disturbance. On admission to hospital, he was suffering from almost complete paraplegia. Roentgenograms of the spine showed extensive destruction in the body of the second thoracic vertebra. Magnetic resonance computed tomography revealed a vertebral tumor that was compressing the vertebral cord. Thus, a laminectomy of the 1st to 3rd thoracic vertebra was performed to relieve the compression. Histological examination of the tumor showed it to be a metastatic vertebral tumor from a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Subsequently, by abdominal computed tomography and an examination of the AFP serum level the existence of the HCC was confirmed. This is a very rare case of an HCC that was revealed by paraplegia caused by bone metastasis.