Thoracic Percutaneous Vertebroplasty for the Treatment of Vertebral Hemangioma in a Patient With Forestier's Disease: A Case Report

Percutaneous vertebroplasty consists of an injection of polymethylmethacrylate in the vertebral body, with the aim of reinforcing the bone structure, preventing vertebral collapse, and achieving analgesic and antitumor effects. It is used in the treatment of patients with aggressive vertebral hemangiomas, as well as compression fractures of traumatic etiology and pathological fractures. Forestier's disease is also known as senile ankylosing hyperostosis of the spine. It is characterized by hypertrophy of the anterior longitudinal ligament. Depending on the most prominent place of ossification of this ligament, its clinical symptoms vary, with intense pain being the most relevant. Here, we present the case of a 73-year-old female with complaints of intense, constant pain that did not improve with conservative treatment, located at the level of the Th4Th10 vertebrae, radiating along the intercostal spaces, with eight months of evolution with muscular hypertonism. Magnetic resonance imaging of the thoracic spine showed osteochondritis of the thoracic spine and right-sided scoliosis. For hemangioma of the Th6 vertebral body, the patient was referred to the vertebrology department, where she was admitted to undergo percutaneous vertebroplasty of the affected level under fluoroscopic control. In this study, we report the use of percutaneous vertebroplasty as a minimally invasive treatment in a patient with Forestier's disease, obtaining excellent results, rapid recovery, and minimal hospitalization time, without having to subject the patient to major surgery.