Fibrous dysplasia of the clivus with a second T8 bone lesion: case report

We present a rare case of a probably poliostotic fibrous dysplasia of the clivus in a young woman with a clival and vertebral involvement. We also compare our case with data reported in tables that include all cases of clival fibrous dysplasia present in literature.

Thirty-year-old women presented with headache. We reviewed radiological and clinical literature before surgery. It was possible to perform a preoperative diagnosis of fibrous dysplasia of the clivus so it was possible to adopt a minimally invasive surgical approach on the clivus. The diagnosis of fibrous dysplasia of the clivus was confirmed after the operation. As the patient was asymptomatic, we did not operate on the vertebral lesion which was stable after 1 year.

We draw the conclusion that it is possible to obtain a correct preoperative diagnosis of fibrous dysplasia based on magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomographic scans; this makes it possible to avoid major surgical operations. The reported case is particularly interesting because apart from the clival fibrous dysplasia, a vertebral involvement of the same type can be assumed; this association has never been reported in literature.