Chondrosarcoma of spine

Chondrosarcomas are malignant cartilage forming tumors. Chondrosarcoma is the second most common primary tumor of the spine after multiple myeloma.  

Chondrosarcoma may be classified as primary ( arising de novo) or secondary ( arising from a pre-existing osteochondroma or enchondroma).

Although chondrosarcoma is second most common primary malignat tumor of the bone but chondrosarcoma of spine is uncommon. It rarely grows inside the spinal canal [ Arockiaraj et al, 2012].

Chondrosarcomas arising from the vertebral axis usually present as slowly growing mass with an insidious onset, associated with pain and local tenderness, usually associated with neurological deficits at the time of presentation.

Chondrosarcomas usually appear as osteolytic lesions with endosteal scalloping and cartilaginous matrix calcifications. Punctate , pop-corn like calcifications , arcs and ring types have been described for matrix mineralization which is pathognomonic for chondrosarcoma.

Chondrosarcomas of the spine usually belong to the mesenchymal or clear cell histological types.

The ideal treatment consists of total “en-bloc” resection, not always achievable due to limitation of location, compromise of stability and risk of inducing neurological deficits.

References:

Justin Arockiaraj, Krishnan Venkatesh, Rohit Amritanand, Gabriel David Sundararaj, Gurusamy Nachimuthu.  Chondrosarcoma of the Spinous Process: A Rare Presentation. Asian Spine Journal Vol. 6, No. 4, pp 279~283, 2 012

C. Ruivo, Hopper. Spinal chondrosarcoma arising from a solitary lumbar osteochondroma, JBR–BTR, 2014, 97: 21-24.

 

Daniel Monte-Serrat Prevedello, Joacir Graciolli Cordeiro, Andrei Koerbel, Léo Fernando da Silva Ditzel, João Cândido Araújo. Management of primary spinal Chondrosarcoma.Report of two cases causing cord compression . Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2004;62(3-B):875-878

 

Ratliff J, Voorhies R. Osteochondroma of the C5 lamina with cord compression: case report and review of the literature. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2000 May 15;25(10):1293-5.

 

Nick Vertzyas, John Cummine, Sandra Biankin and Michael Bilows. Chondrosarcoma of the thoracic spine in an 8-year-old child with 12 years follow-up: A case report. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery 2000, 8(1): 89–92.