[Cervical osteolysis. Initial manifestation of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma].

Initial manifestations in a patient with an embryonic rhabdomyosarcoma were signs of cervical spine osteolysis. Initial histological diagnosis of a chordoma was rejected on the basis of the site of the tumor and then eliminated by a second histological study. The course was fulminating over a period of 8 months. Comparison between this case and intracranial localizations of the tumor are possible because of mild initial involvement of the soft tissues.