Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the spine

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EH) is a rare tumor of vascular origin. The authors describe two cases of spinal EH, one involving the T-10 vertebra and the second involving the upper cervical spine. In the first case the patient underwent resection of the tumor; this case represents the longest reported follow-up period for spinal EH. In the second case, extensive involvement of C-2, C-3, and C-4 as well as encasement of both vertebral arteries precluded safe tumor resection, and posterior occipitocervical stabilization was performed. The patient subsequently died of metastatic disease. The findings in these two cases underscore the difficulty in predicting the clinical behavior of spinal EH based solely on histological and clinical features as well as the uncertainty of the roles of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy in the oncological management of a spinal tumor for which clinical data are very limited.