Spontaneous recovery of postsurgical progressive cervical spine kyphosis following intramedullary spinal cord tumor resection in a 4-year-old boy: illustrative case.

BACKGROUND

Postsurgical kyphosis is relatively common in children who have undergone resection of intramedullary spinal cord tumors. Progressive kyphosis almost always requires instrumentation and fusion surgery, which can delay or interfere with adjuvant oncological treatments and can deleteriously impact the long-term performance status of the patient.

OBSERVATIONS

Here, the authors report a case of near-complete spontaneous recovery (i.e., without spinal fusion surgery) of postsurgical progressive cervical spine kyphosis following intramedullary spinal cord tumor resection and discuss the potential factors that may have contributed to this positive outcome.

LESSONS

This case serves as a reminder that spontaneous recovery from postsurgical progressive cervical spine kyphosis can occur and that some patients (i.e., those without neurological deficits) can be monitored closely, with a watch-and-wait approach, before subjecting them to additional surgical risks, delays in other treatments, and potential morbidity. https://thejns.org/doi/10.3171/CASE24187.