Paediatric Manifestations of Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: a Review of the Clinical and Radiological Findings

Langerhans cell histiocytosis of the cervical spine in an adult: a case report

“…The etiology of the tumor is still controversial (7,8,10,13,14), although clonal proliferation (13,14), a reactive process or a viral etiology (7, 10) have been proposed.…”

“…LCH most commonly occurs in the first two decades of life; 80% of the patients are younger than 10 years old (7,8,10,12). The diagnosis of LCH in adults is rare (8,10,12).…”

“…Our case is a rare example of LCH in the spine. In the spine, LCH mainly involves the vertebral bodies, with a predilection for the thoracic spine (54%) followed by the lumbar (35%) and cervical spine (11%) (4,7). Posterior arch involvement is less common (3,7,8).…”

“…In the present case, the patient had intractable cervical pain with paresthetic appearance on her left arm and reduced flexion of the left wrist with no neurological symptoms. Single or multiple sharply-circumscribed osteolytic lesions can be seen by the radiological studies (3,7). When the vertebral column is involved, usually only a single lesion is noted although rarely more than one vertebra can be involved.…”

“…The designation of LCH replaced the previous nomenclature of the group of diseases termed histiocytosis X, which included eosinophilic granuloma (EG), Letterer-Siwe Syndrome, and Hand-Schuller-Christian disease (7,8,10). LCH is a rare disease.…”