Osteochondroma of the Lumbar Spine Misdiagnosed as Calcified Disc

Cartilage-forming tumors are benign cartilaginous tumors that rarely affect the spinal canal. They account for 2% of all spinal tumors and 2.6% of all benign bone tumors, and involvement of the vertebral column is found in 3-5% of the cases. Pathologically, they may be classified as chondroma, osteochondroma, chondroblastoma and chondromyxoid fibroma. This oncotype may remain asymptomatic or may present as a hard paravertebral swelling, or -more rarely- be accompanied by a slowly developing neurologic syndrome. We report the case of a 38 -year- old man in whom pain in the left buttock and left leg developed. Surgery involved a left partial hemilaminectomy and the mass was totally excised.