Hemilaminectomy for a dumbbell-shaped vertebral hemangioma.

We report the case of a dumbbell-shaped vertebral hemangioma mimicking a neurogenic tumor. A 73-year-old male was found on chest X-ray to have an abnormal shadow at the apex of the right upper lung field. Chest computed tomography revealed a 4.0-cm mass in the posterior right paravertebral region, adjacent to the T1 and T2 vertebral bodies. Given the location and shape of the tumor, it was suspected to be a neurogenic tumor. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the tumor extended into the spinal canal via the second intervertebral foramen. The tumor was resected successfully via hemilaminectomy with costotranversectomy. On pathological examination, the tumor was found to be a benign hemangioma. The patient is free of recurrence at 10 months post-resection. Vertebral hemangioma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of dumbbell-shaped tumors of the upper or posterior mediastinum. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.