14-Year-Old Boy With Mild Antecedent Neck Pain in Setting of Acute Trauma: A Rare Case of Benign Fibrous Histiocytoma of the Spine.

A 14-year-old boy presented to the emergency department with neck pain after a football accident. Imaging revealed a discrete, expansile, lytic, radiolucent mass extending anterior from the left C2 vertebral body. The differential diagnosis for this mass is broad and includes both benign and malignant lesions. A thorough history and physical examination, along with selective imaging and a tissue sample, are essential in making the correct diagnosis. We report a case of benign fibrous histiocytoma (BFH) in the cervical spine of a pediatric patient, present the diagnostic dilemma involved in diagnosing BFH, and review the literature to compare the characteristics of BFH with those of other benign bone lesions. To our knowledge, this is only the second reported case of BFH in the cervical spine of a pediatric patient.