Gorham's Disease Misdiagnosed as a Simple Compression Fracture in the Thoracic Spine: A Case Report / 대한척추외과학회지

ABSTRACT

Gorham's disease is a rare condition of unknown etiology that is characterized by progressive osteolysis. A 48 year-old woman had a burst fracture at T10, which was treated by pedicle screw instrumentation at another hospital. She was transferred due to progressive paraparesis, which was not observed initially. An MRI demonstrated severe cord compression at the T10 level. Under the assumption that the patient had a highly vascular metastatic tumor, an anterior decompression with instrumentation was performed. However, neurologic symptoms and bone destruction worsened after six weeks postoperatively. A repeat decompression was performed through the posterior route and long-level pedicle screw instrumentation was applied. After the second operation, Gorham's disease was confirmed histologically. Care must be taken not to overlook a pathologic fracture caused by a spinal tumor as a simple fracture, especially an osteoporotic one.