Fig. 12

Vertebral body replacement (corpectomy). Sagittal T2W preoperative MR image (a) shows an expansile intracanal chordoma (black asterisk) centered in C3 vertebral body and extending from C2 to C4 levels. The patient underwent vertebral bodies replacement (corpectomy) and anterior fusion procedure using plate and screws (arrow), with interposition of bone graft, as shown on a postoperative sagittal using maximum intensity projection CT reconstruction in bone window (b). In another patient, sagittal T1W fat-suppressed post-contrast MR image (c) presents a spinal metastasis from breast cancer involving the L5 vertebral body (thin arrow). Postoperative sagittal T2W MR image (d) demonstrates extensive resection of L5 vertebral body (corpectomy) with placement of a spacer (arrowhead). There is a small amount of fluid around the spacer (white asterisk), in this case related to postoperative seroma that was later absorbed