Case report 647: Benign osteoblastoma causing spinal cord compression and spastic paresis.

Osteoblastoma is an infrequent but important cause of pain in the back and neurological findings in children and young adults. Its diagnosis may be difficult and often delayed (in one series, 23% of patients had not been diagnosed after 2 years of symptoms). MRI may be useful to noninvasively image the lesion, its soft tissue and bony extent and its relationship, if any, to the spinal cord.