A rare occurrence of osteoblastoma in a child

To report a rare occurrence of osteoblastoma involving the L4 vertebra in an 8-year-old female child with histological features suggestive of osteoblastoma with secondary aneurysmal changes. The mean age incidence of osteoblastoma is 20.4 years. In our case, a rare presentation of osteoblastoma was seen in the first decade. The child was admitted with a 1-year history of increasing back pain and radiculopathy. The child was evaluated with X-rays, computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging, which indicated involvement of the posterior elements of the 4 th lumbar vertebrae. Decompression of the L5 nerve and resection of the tumor was performed. Osteoblastoma is a rare tumor with an incidence of 1% of all tumors and 30-40% of cases involving the spine. Osteoblastoma occurs most commonly in males (M:F, 2.5:1). The most common area of involvement is the cervical spine followed by the lumbar spine. Posterior elements of the vertebrae are commonly involved.