Gorham-Stout syndrome with cervical involvement treated with radiotherapy: a case report

Abstract

Gorham-Stout disease (GSD), vanishing bone or phantom bone disease, is an uncommon disease whose etiology is uncertain and its pathophysiology poorly understood. This syndrome is characterized by the spontaneous destruction of the bone matrix associated with massive osteolysis and proliferation of lymphatic vascular structures in the affected areas. In the present article we present a case of GSD in a 10-year-old male patient with osteolytic lesions affecting the skull base, including the occipital bone, the petrous portion of the temporalis and clivus, as well as the vertebral bodies from C1 to C5. This syndrome should be suspected when there is bone pain that does not subside with analgesic treatment. An initial study with an x-ray will help us infer the disease in search of a bone deformity. The treatment depends on the characteristics of the lesion, the best being surgery with radiotherapy.