Chondroblastoma of the lumbar spine with cauda equina syndrome

STUDY DESIGN: Case report. OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical presentations, radiological features and clinical progress of a rare case of chondroblastoma of the lumbar spine. SETTING: Regional Hospital, Hong Kong, China. METHOD: A 54-year-old male patient presented with low back pain and left sciatica. X-ray and MRI revealed tumour infiltration of the fifth lumbar vertebrae and left paraspinal muscles, which was found to be a chondroblastoma by repeated open biopsies. The tumour was removed surgically by combined anterior and posterior approaches, followed by spinal fusion and instrumentation. RESULTS: The anterior tricortical bone graft was complicated with fracture and nonunion. Surgical re-exploration confirmed local recurrence of tumour macroscopically and histologically. The patient developed symptoms and signs of cauda equina syndrome gradually despite repeated surgery and irradiation. The patient eventually died of complications of local recurrence and neurological deficit at 3 years and 8 months after the first operation. CONCLUSION: This is the first case report of chondroblastoma of the lumbar spine. The clinical profile of this patient and the evidence from the literature review suggests that spinal chondroblastoma has a very aggressive behaviour with high recurrence and mortality rate.