title: Recurrent giant cell tumor of the thoracic spine with bilateral pulmonary metastases.
abstract: Giant cell tumor (GCT) of bone is a challenging clinicopathologic entity. Despite its benign designation, it has the capacity to recur locally and develop rare pulmonary metastasis. We report a case of histologically proven recurrent GCT of the spine (T7-8) involving spinal cord compression, direct extension to 1 lung, and bilateral pulmonary metastases. A 30-year-old woman presented with back pain, and underwent anterior reconstruction for GCT of the T7 at another hospital. As her symptoms deteriorated, she underwent laminectomy at the same hospital 2 months after the first surgery. One year after the first surgery, she was referred to our hospital on account of a progressive neurological deficit and intractable back pain, and underwent an anterior tumor resection at T7-8 and reconstruction, due to tumor recurrence. Postoperatively, the patient did not show neurologic improvement, but her pain decreased. The patient displayed no respiratory difficulties and no apparent change in follow-up chest radiographs for more than 2 years since surgery. This is the first reported case of bilateral pulmonary metastases from GCT of the thoracic spine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Lih-Huei
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chi-Chien
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Po-Liang
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Tsai-Sheng
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Wen-Jer
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005870:Giant Cell Tumors / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery