A Solitary Osteochondroma Originating from the Spinous Process of the Third Cervical Vertebra: A Case Report and Comprehensive Literature Review

Abstract

Background Osteochondroma is one of the most common solitary bone lesions. Multiple lesions are possible only in some genetic abnormalities, such as hereditary multiple exostoses (HME). Half of spinal osteochondroma is documented at the cervical level, although there are some levels and locations where it is rare to find an osteochondroma. Methods An advanced search of the PubMed database was performed for case reports and case series of spinal cervical osteochondroma. After data extraction, information was organized in one table and many figures to facilitate data comprehension. Result Osteochondroma was common in younger patients, with 26% of all cases in the literature being in those aged 18 to 35 years, and 24% of patients were aged 36 to 50. Over half (55%) of cases were in males. The most common presentation among all patients was neck pain and swelling or lump sensation. Moreover, 38% of cases were osteochondroma at the C1 level, and 33% were noted to affect the posterior arch. The majority of the cases had a favorable prognosis as most of them underwent total surgical resection of the tumor and decompression of the neural compartment. Conclusion Solitary cervical osteochondroma is a bony, benign lesion that can have devastating sequelae such as severe painful radiculopathy and quadriplegia if it is not approached correctly. History, examination, and radiological investigation are all crucial to making the best clinical judgment for the patients.