Spongious and cortical osteoblastoma of the axial skeleton

Eleven cases of osteoblastoma (spongious osteoblastoma) and four cases of osteoid osteoma (cortical osteoblastoma) involving the spine, diagnosed at Hadassah Hospital between 1970 and 1983 were analyzed. The age range was 7 to 34 years and the average clinical follow up was 63 months. The cervical spine was involved in four patients, thoracic in four, lumbar in six and the sacrum in one patient. Back or neck pain associated with stiffness was present in all cases and was often accompanied by scoliosis or torticollis. All the patients with osteoid osteoma were symptom relieved by surgery without recurrence. Seven of the patients with benign osteoblastoma presented with neurological signs or symptoms and three of these had recurrence following primary surgery. Although cortical and spongious osteoblastoma are considered as members of the same family of benign tumors of osteoblastic derivation, spongious osteoblastoma does not seem to be limited in growth potential as is cortical osteoblastoma.