[Osteochondroma of the atlantooccipital joint. Extreme lateral transcondylar approach. A case description]. / Osteocondroma de la articulación atlantoccipital. Abordaje extremo lateral transcondilar. A propósito de un caso.

INTRODUCTION: We describe a patient diagnosed as suffering from a skull base osteochondroma which affected the atlantooccipital joint and originated in the occipital condyle. It also displayed a growth toward the foramen magnum, which was resected using an extreme lateral transcondylar approach. CASE REPORT: Patient aged 35, with a one year history of vertiginous seizures and unsteady gait, associated with cervical pain that irradiated to the right upper extremity, dysphagia, changes in the tone of the voice and distal numbness of the four extremities. The patient was made to lie in the three quarter prone position and an incision was made in the skin from the C3 spinous apophysis to a point 2 cm below the end of the mastoid process, in relation with the transversal apophysis of C1. The intervention continued with early identification and rotation of the vertebral artery; total resection of the tumour (osteochondroma) with its base in the right occipital condyle and growth toward the foramen magnum, in which the greater resection of the posteromedial third of the condyle is included. CONCLUSIONS: The location of osteochondromas can vary widely, and the condyle is one of the least frequent places inside the occipital bone. The approach employed provides excellent access to the region, in particular to the atlantooccipital joint. The width and angle of exposition are increased as compared with the traditional suboccipital approach, which facilitates the radical resection of the lesion with no neural retraction and without any surgical complications.

Osteocondroma de la articulación atlantoccipital. Abordaje extremo lateral transcondilar. A propósito de un caso / Osteochondroma of the atlantooccipital joint. Extreme lateral transcondylar approach. A case description

Introducción. Se describe un paciente con diagnóstico de osteocondroma de la base del cráneo que interesa la articulación atlantoccipital con origen del cóndilo occipital, y muestra un crecimiento hacia el agujero magno, resecado por un abordaje extremo lateral transcondilar. Caso clínico. Paciente de 35 años de edad, crisis vertiginosa e inestabilidad para la marcha de un año de evolución, asociado a dolor cervical irradiado al miembro superior derecho, disfagia, cambios en la tonalidad de la voz y adormecimiento distal de las cuatro extremidades. Paciente en prono tres cuartos, con una incisión en la piel desde espinosa de C3 hasta 2 cm inferior a la punta del mastoides, en relación con la proyección de la apófisis transversa de C1, identificación temprana y rotación de la arteria vertebral; resección total del tumor (osteocondroma) con base en el cóndilo occipital derecho y crecimiento hacia el agujero magno, en el que se incluye la resección mayor de 1/3 posteromedial del cóndilo. Conclusiones. Los osteocondromas tienen las más variadas localizaciones, siendo el cóndilo uno de los lugares más infrecuentes dentro del hueso occipital. El abordaje realizado provee un acceso excelente a la región, específicamente a la articulación atlantoccipital, con un aumento de la amplitud y el ángulo de exposición respecto al abordaje suboccipital tradicional, que facilita la resección radical de la lesión, con ninguna retracción neural y sin complicaciones quirúrgicas (AU)

Introduction. We describe a patient diagnosed as suffering from a skull base osteochondroma which affected the atlantooccipital joint and originated in the occipital condyle. It also displayed a growth toward the foramen magnum, which was resected using an extreme lateral transcondylar approach. Case report. Patient aged 35, with a one-year history of vertiginous seizures and unsteady gait, associated with cervical pain that irradiated to the right upper extremity, dysphagia, changes in the tone of the voice and distal numbness of the four extremities. The patient was made to lie in the three quarter prone position and an incision was made in the skin from the C3 spinous apophysis to a point 2 cm below the end of the mastoid process, in relation with the transversal apophysis of C1. The intervention continued with early identification and rotation of the vertebral artery; total resection of the tumour (osteochondroma) with its base in the right occipital condyle and growth toward the foramen magnum, in which the greater resection of the posteromedial third of the condyle is included. Conclusions. The location of osteochondromas can vary widely, and the condyle is one of the least frequent places inside the occipital bone. The approach employed provides excellent access to the region, in particular to the atlantooccipital joint. The width and angle of exposition are increased as compared with the traditional suboccipital approach, which facilitates the radical resection of the lesion with no neural retraction and without any surgical complications (AU)