title: Metastatic prostate cancer in ossification of the ligamentum flavum--a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  No previous reports have described a metastatic tumor located in the ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To report an extremely rare case of metastatic tumor located in the OLF.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case report.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report a case of a 54-year-old man who sustained paraparesis attributable to spinal cord compression because of OLF in the thoracic spine.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The OLF at T3/T4 and T5/T6, together with the laminae of T3-T6, was resected. Histologically, the removed section mainly consisted of mature bone with some elastic fiber and fibrocartilage. Tumor cells with a tubular construction, compatible with metastatic adenocarcinoma, were also observed in the OLF. These findings are consistent with metastatic prostate cancer in the OLF. Eleven months after surgery, the patient showed improvement in gait disturbance and bladder-bowel disturbance that existed before surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first case of metastatic tumor located in the OLF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Saitama Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, 1981, Kamoda, Kawagoe, Saitama 350-8550, Japan. tmotosuneya@yahoo.co.jp
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Motosuneya
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Hironobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Ryuzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Hiroya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakai
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D017843:Ligamentum Flavum / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009999:Ossification, Heterotopic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000209:etiology; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae