Multifocal osteolytic lesions within lumbar spine in a middle-aged Chinese woman: a benign metastasizing leiomyoma?

Abstract

Case report. To describe a case presented as osteolytic lesions involving 2 inconsecutive lumbar, which was pathologically proved to be of smooth muscular origin. Smooth muscle tumor of uncertain malignant potential (STUMP) could be diagnosed when the neoplasm showed some malignant behavior, whereas its histologic image revealed very low malignance. A 47-year-old woman presented with low back pain and numbness of the left lower extremity attributable to osteolytic lesions in the second and fourth lumbar vertebral bodies, which was subsequently diagnosed as STUMP. A benign metastasizing leiomyoma was highly suspected. Clinical, pathologic, and radiologic characters of the patient with STUMP confined within the lumbar spine were retrospectively reviewed. A mini review was also conducted. We describe the first spine-confined case of STUMP. Significant new information in the growing literature of this rare and newly identified diagnosis has addressed the need for orthopedists to consider the STUMP diagnosis.