CT and MRI of Aggressive Osteoblastoma of Thyroid Cartilage

Abstract

We present a unique case of aggressive osteoblastoma arising from thyroid cartilage. A 52-year-old man presented with a 10 month history of neck discomfort but without frank pain. CT and MR examinations disclosed a well defined mass arising from the thyroid cartilage. This lesion had areas of coarse calcifications and a central area of lucency. The appearance suggested chondrosarcoma. Hemilaryngectomy was performed to remove the mass en bloc. Surgical pathology diagnosed aggressive osteoblastoma arising from thyroid cartilage.

Extraosseous osteoblastoma of larynx presenting with acute airway obstruction

“…This classification does not list soft tissue or larynx as a site of osteoblastoma. The published work has very few case reports of osteoblastoma arising from laryngeal cartilages 1 – 3 . Agarwala et al and Ledeboer et al reported osteoblastoma of thyroid and cricoid cartilage, respectively, in middle-aged men presenting with the gradual onset of a neck lump, dysphagia and hoarseness 2 , 3 .…”

“…It commonly affects the spine, sacrum and long tubular bones and usually presents with pain and deformity. Osteoblastoma of the larynx is a rare tumour, with only three case reports in the literature 1 – 3 . The differential diagnosis for osteogenic lesions of the larynx includes dystrophic ossification, osteosarcoma and osteoblastoma.…”

“…However, the rarity of this tumour in the larynx precludes establishment of evidence-based management recommendations. The common treatment approaches in the reported cases of laryngeal osteoblastoma have been mainly surgical excision 2 , 3 with radiotherapy in one case 1 . However, we recommend transoral laser tumour excision.…”

Osteoblastoma of the thyroid cartilage treated with voice preserving laryngeal framework resection

“…Osteoblastoma of the larynx is extremely rare, with only six cases reported in the literature, all of which were in males at least 45 years old. In each case, treatment involved either aggressive resection, such as total laryngectomy in one case and hemilaryngectomy in one case, or other tumor resection procedures that did not spare laryngeal soft tissue . We present the first reported female with osteoblastoma of the thyroid cartilage, treated with en bloc tumor resection but preservation of endolaryngeal soft tissue structures.…”

Osteoblastoma of the Larynx: A Case Report

“…A few cases of osteosarcoma of the larynx have been reported in the literature [1]. Aggressive osteoblastoma of the larynx has been described only once [2].…”