Tumour Hidden behind Thoracic Spine Pain: A Rare Case of Neuroblastoma in a Young Mother—A Case Report

Valerio Passudetti, Luca De Leo (), Filippo Maselli, Raffaello Pellegrino and Fabrizio Brindisino
Additional contact information
Valerio Passudetti: Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Medicine and Surgery School, University of Roma “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy
Luca De Leo: Check-Up Center Private Practice, 73020 Lecce, Italy
Filippo Maselli: Department of Human Neurosciences, University of Roma “Sapienza”, 00185 Rome, Italy
Raffaello Pellegrino: Antalgic Mini-Invasive and Rehab-Outpatients Unit, Department of Medicine and Science of Aging, University “G. d’Annunzio” Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
Fabrizio Brindisino: Department of Medicine and Health Science “Vincenzo Tiberio”, University of Molise C/da Tappino c/o Cardarelli Hospital, 86100 Campobasso, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-13

Abstract: Background: Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common form of paediatric malignancy, responsible for up to 15% of cancer deaths in children, whereas in adults, its onset is a rarer event, despite being characterized by greater lethality. The purpose of this case report was to describe the clinical presentation, physical examination, and clinical decision-making process in a patient with Neuroblastoma mimicking thoracic spine pain of musculoskeletal origin. Methods: a thirty-two-year-old mother complained of thoracic spine pain on her left vertebral side and in her left periscapular muscles; her pain was constant, deep, and worse at night; she also experienced pain during physical exertion of her upper limbs; the patient also reported pain in her left breast. Results: the physiotherapist’s anamnesis and physical examination led him to suspect the need for an extra-expertise pathology and to refer his patient to another medical specialist; the subsequent investigations revealed a poorly differentiated Neuroblastoma ALK + (IIC) in the posterior mediastinum on the left; the patient underwent surgery excision after 4 months. Conclusions: differential screening should be a physiotherapist’s fundamental skill in their patients’ clinical management, especially in direct access cases; the physiotherapist has an ethical and moral duty to conduct differential screening, in order to rule out extra-expertise pathologies—both when patients self-refer for rehabilitation assessment, and when they are referred by other practitioners.

Keywords: differential diagnosis; referral and consultation; physical therapists; oncology; back pain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13448/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13448/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13448-:d:945472

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().