[A rare cause of spinal cord compression: osteochondroma of the thoracic spine. A case report].

Osteochondroma or exostosis is the most common benign tumor of bone, but vertebral involvement is rare. The authors report the case of a 16 years old male with a family history of hereditary multiple exostoses who presented with spinal cord compression. MR examination showed an intraspinal extradural bone lesion at the T1-T2 level, hyperintense on T1 weighted and hypointense on T2 weighted images, causing marked cord deformity. The CT scan showed a tumor of the body and left pedicle of T2 with severe narrowing of the spinal canal.