Osteoid osteomas of the spine.

Seven patients with spinal osteoid osteomas are reported and another 110 cases from the literature are reviewed. Among the patients spinal pain is the constant clinical complaint, while radicular pain and scoliosis are present in half of the patients. Whereas radiograms and tomograms of the spine are sometimes inadequate for diagnosis, bone scanning is positive in 100% of patients and is useful for directing spinal computed tomography at the exact level of the lesion. Complete removal of the tumoral nidus produces remission of pain in more than 95% of cases. The possibility of an erroneous diagnosis of a lumbar protruded disk and the necessity of a bone scan in young patients with spinal or radicular pain are emphasized.