Coccydynia due to a benign notochordal cell tumor.
METHODS
Case report.


OBJECTIVE
To present a rare case of a notochordal cell tumor.


BACKGROUND
We report on a 27-year-old female patient with pain at the lower back and muscle cramps in the area of the right hip. Image studies demonstrated a cystic lesion of the coccyx.


METHODS
As clinical symptoms became chronic and were resistant to conservative treatment, a resection of the coccyx was performed.


RESULTS
Histology revealed an intraosseous benign notochordal cell tumor. This tumor represents a recently described notochordal cell proliferation biologically distinct from chordomas.


CONCLUSIONS
Overdiagnosis of these notochordal cell proliferations as chordomas may occur if clinicians and pathologists are unfamiliar with the spectrum of notochordal proliferations.
Haasper
Carl
C
Trauma Department, Hannover Medical School, Germany. Haasper.carl@mh-hannover.de
Länger
Florian
F
Rosenthal
Herbert
H
Knobloch
Karsten
K
Mössinger
Eckart
E
Krettek
Christian
C
Bastian
Leonhard
L
D000328:Adult; D003050:Coccyx / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D009672:Notochord / Q000473:pathology; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery