Osteoid osteomas of the spine are rare primary spine tumors consisting of osteoblasts that produce osteoid and woven bone. They often involve the posterior spinal elements, with the thoracolumbar spine being the most common site of involvement. Usually affects males under 30 and presents as vertebral column pain gradually becoming radicular in character; the pain, essentially nocturnal, is spectacularly but transiently relieved by salicylates and is accompanied by often frank stiffness of the spine. The diagnosis is based less on X rays and tomographs, than on isotope bone scanning, which reveals a focus of intense hyperfixation, and CAT scanning which shows a bony lacuna possibly with an opacity in the center producing a rosette shaped image.
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