Case Report: An Unusual Osseous Lesion

The intraosseous benign notochordal cell tumor (BNCT) is an intravertebral lesion derived from notochordal tissue. The notochord develops in humans during the third week of embryonic life and persists in adults as the nucleus pulposus of the vertebral disks. The most common locations of such tumors are the saccrococcygeal region and the skull base. Most tumors are asymptomatic and small. Magnetic resonance imaging is useful in their detection and precise localization. Histologically, these lesions consist of sheets of adipocyte-like vacuolated or less vacuolated eosinophilic tumor cells with eccentrically located round nuclei without myxoid matrix. The tumor cells express the epithelial markers, vimentin and S100 protein. Main differential diagnosis is chordoma. Intraosseous BNCT do not require any surgical management and should be recognized by pathologists to prevent unnecessary radical surgery. These lesions should be followed-up with conventional MRI.