Laser interstitial thermal therapy for palliative ablation of a chordoma metastasis to the spine: Case report

The authors present the first report of laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) ablation of a recurrent chordoma metastasis to the cervical spine. This patient was a 75-year-old woman who was diagnosed and treated for a sacral chordoma, and then developed metastases to the lung and upper thoracic spine. Unfortunately she experienced symptomatic recurrence at the C-7 spinous process. She underwent an uncomplicated LITT to the lesion. The patient convalesced without incident and was discharged on postoperative Day 1. She received stereotactic spinal radiosurgery to the lesion at a dose of 24 Gy in 1 fraction. At the 3-month follow-up evaluation she had radiographic response and improvement in her symptoms.