Management of a Lumbar Burst Fracture Occurring After a Sneeze in a Patient Affected by Systemic Mastocytosis: A Case Report.

CASE: We present a 36-year-old man with L1 burst fracture after a sneeze. He was in follow-up for indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM), and osteoporosis was treated with bisphosphonate. Owing to neurologic impairment, posterior decompressive laminectomy and thoraco-lumbar fusion with cemented screws were performed.

CONCLUSION

Vertebral fractures in young patients affected by ISM required a multidisciplinary approach and a careful preoperative planning to achieve acceptable results. These fractures are so rare that even an experienced spine surgeon may not come across them during his whole career. Nevertheless, diagnostic tool improvement makes its diagnosis more frequent, that is why every spine surgeon should know this disease.