Leiomyosarcoma metastatic to the cervical spine causing a C6 compression fracture: A case report

Leiomyosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor derived from smooth muscle cells, which commonly metastasizes to the lungs, liver, kidney, brain and skin. The current study presents the case of a 42-year-old male who presented with progressive neck pain and numbness of the left arm. Spinal computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed osteolytic lesions of numerous vertebrae (C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, T1 and T2). With regard to the C6 vertebra, total destruction of the vertebral body resulted in vertebral collapse and subsequent spinal cord compression. The patient underwent an anterior C6 corpectomy, reconstruction with a mesh cage filled with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and open PMMA infusion to C5 and C7. The surgical procedure significantly alleviated the symptoms and obtained a reliable reconstruction. The clinical follow-up examination at 13 months was uneventful with the exception of mild numbness of the left hand since the surgery. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of leiomyosarcoma recurrence presenting in the cervical spine, and the present study provides insight into the use of a surgical technique that has rarely been used in the cervical spine.