Thoracic Cord Compression from Multiple Hereditary Exostoses Associated with Cerebellar Astrocytoma

Abstract

M ULTIPLE hereditary exostoses have been recognized for almost 150 years. In 1925 the hereditary nature of this disorder was shown conclusively by Stocks and Barrington? 3 They found a parent with typical lesions in 60% of 727 patients. In 1943 Jaffe simplified the nomenclature of the disease and alluded to its pathogenesis. Exact genetic classification is still unsettled, but more males than females are affected. Neurological complications and especially spinal cord compression, in relation to the exostoses, are rare. The patient we are reporting exhibits this benign spinal cord compression in apparently coincidental association with a benign cerebellar tumor.