Combined Preoperative Embolization and Surgical Treatment of a Giant Aneurysmal Bone Cyst in the Lumbar Spine: A Case...

An aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) is a vascular locally proliferative, non-neoplastic, benign lesion observed in children and young adults. 75% of ABCs occur before the age of twenty. The cyst frequently develops in the long bones and comprises 1.4% of primary bone tumors. Spinal ABC is rare and is typically observed in the thoracic and cervical regions. In the spinal region, the posterior elements of a single vertebra are usually involved. The lamina, pedicle, facet joints are more commonly affected. The lesion may also expand toward the corpus. We present a case involving successful total excision of a lumbar spinal giant ABC by combining surgery with preoperative coil embolization. Preoperative arterial embolization contributes to decreased morbidity and mortality rates by reducing the duration of surgery and occurrence of intraoperative hemorrhage.