[Extensive pseudotumoral lumbar spine lesions of vascular origin]

Extensive remodeling of the anterior aspect of the lumbar spine was observed in two patients with a ruptured aneurysm of the abdominal aorta. Both patients survived as the rupture was contained in the first case and involved a false anastomotic aneurysm in the second. The patients presented with a clinical picture compatible with advanced stage cancer and a radiologic aspect showing anterior erosion of the vertebral bodies, suggestive of very advanced spondylodiscitis. The diagnosis was made on the basis of ultrasound and CT-scan evidence. There was no parallel relationship between the size of the ectasia and the spinal remodelling. A hypothetical pathogenic mechanism involving the intermittent pulsation of the aneurysm and ischaemia of the vertebral bone is proposed.