Scoliosis caused by benign osteoblastoma of the thoracic or lumbar spine.

We are reporting the cases of five patients with scoliosis caused by a benign osteoblastoma of the thoracic or lumbar spine. All five patients had pain and scoliosis as the presenting symptoms, which had lasted from six months to two years. The average curve measurement was 49 degrees. Two patients were treated by excision of the lesion, posterior spine fusion, and Harrington instrumentation and three, by excision of the lesion only. At follow-ups ranging from two and one-half to five years after treatment (average, three years and eight months), no patient had pain or recurrence of the tumor. The scoliosis was improved in the three patients who had been symptomatic for nine months or less and who had undergone excision of the tumor. The scoliosis did not improve in the two patients whose symptoms had been present for longer periods of time.