Abstract
A 34-year-old male, who presented with mild upper back pain of recent onset was discovered to have a large intrathoracic mass, which was in continuity with tumour which had extensively destroyed the T5 and T6 vertebrae. Microscopy of an aspirated pleural effusion unexpectedly revealed many large multinucleated giant cells and the subsequent needle biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of a Giant Cell Tumour (GCT) of bone. In addition to being the first reported occasion when a GCT has been provisionally diagnosed by cytological examination of a pleural effusion, this case report also considers the unusual features and unpredictable behaviour of a tumour, which very rarely originates in the thoracic spine. The complex and prolonged surgical procedure adopted to extirpate tumour, which had permeated important mediastinal structures and to restore stability to the spinal column is outlined.
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Shimamura, Y., Vernon-Roberts, B., Kaneko, K. et al. Novel diagnosis and subsequent management of a very large Giant Cell Tumour of bone arising as a rarity in the thoracic spine. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 18, 371–375 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-008-0314-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-008-0314-9