title: Percutaneous vertebroplasty for Langerhans cell histiocytosis of the lumbar spine in an adult: Case report and review of the literature.
abstract: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is extremely rare in the lumbar spine of adults. The radiological features typically manifest as vertebral tumors. The exact etiology of LCH remains unknown. Langerhans cells may cause local or systemic effects. The most frequent sites of these bony lesions are the skull, femur, mandible, pelvis and spine. To date, only 3 spinal LCH cases treated by percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) have been reported. The present study reports a case of LCH of the fourth lumbar vertebra (L4) in a 51-year-old male with a 10-day history of low back pain, limited waist motion and right lower limb numbness. The patient was treated using PVP. The use of PVP for treating LCH of the spine was successful. The present study provides an up-to-date literature overview of LCH.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050,  P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Jin-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Li