Intramedullary metastatic tumor comprise about 0.9 to 5% among the spinal metastatic tumors. Authors presented a rare case of intramedullary metastatic spinal cord tumor treated with operative total removal followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Drug Therapy ; Lung Neoplasms ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms* ; Spinal Cord*

PURPOSE: A spinal cord partial block technique (PBT) with dynamic multileaf collimator (dMLC) for the reduction of the spinal cord dose while keeping the tumor dose unchanged has been developed and its effectiveness has been examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Conventional 3-D conformal therapy treatment plan is deigned prior to the PBT application. Beam parameters such as, number of beams, beam directions were determined during 3-D conformal therapy planning process. The shape and the weight of the partial block for optimizing the dose distribution are designed with the forward intensity modulated radiation therapy (fIMRT). Eight cases of lung cancer, in which it was found to be impossible to deliver enough doses to targets with the conventional technique because the doses of the normal lungs or the spinal cords were over the tolerance limit, are used to verify the usefulness of this technique. Comparison of the dose volume histogram (DVH) is performed to compare the treatment plan. RESULTS: PBT plan cauld reduce the maximum dose to the spinal cord up to 29.7% and the mean dose to the lungs up to 11.1%. CONCLUSION: All of the cases showed that the PBT plans are better than the conventional 3-D plans and the spinal cord doses or the normal lung doses can be reduced to tolerance limit
Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Spinal Cord

A case is reported which raised intracranial pressure with papilledema due to hydrocephalus associated with a intramedullary spinal cord tumor at the T10-T12 levels. The pathlogical diagnosis of the tumor is pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma which is very rare in the spinal cord. CSF protein was elevated. The mechanisms of the raised intracranial pressure are discussed with a review of the literatures.
Diagnosis ; Hydrocephalus* ; Intracranial Pressure ; Papilledema ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms* ; Spinal Cord*

Primary melanotic schwannoma in spinal cord is a very uncommon disorder, eight cases of melanotic schwannoma in spinal cord have been found in the literature. We present a case report of a patient with an intradural, extramadullary melanotic schwannoma in cervical spine and the literature on melanotic schwannoma is reviewed. The proposed theories on the origin of these tumors and treatment are discussed.
Humans ; Neurilemmoma* ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms ; Spine*

Spinal cord compression is fatal condition to oncologic patients. Metastatic spinal cord compression from ovarian cancer is rarely reported in the literature. We experienced a case of solitary spinal cord compression with paraplegia in recurrent ovarian cancer patients.
Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Paraparesis ; Paraplegia ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Compression

There were many surgical approaches for the ventral or ventrolateral thoracic spinal cord tumor. Six ventrally or ventrolaterally located thoracic spinal tumors were successfully resected through the posterolateral approach. This approach allows direct visualization of the ventral and dorsal boundaries of the tumor with minimal manipulation of the spinal cord. Compared to the traditional laminectomy, visualization of the tumor and spinal cord can be shown to markedly improved. Also, when compared to the transthoracic approach, this approach has be associated with fewer potential complications, such as violation of pleural space and mediastinum, and eliminates the necessity of vertebrectomy. Neurological improvement was obtained in all six patients. It is believed that this approach offers significant advantages for the treatment of ventrally or ventrolaterally located thoracic tumors, and should be considered an to alternative the transthoracic approach.
Humans ; Laminectomy ; Mediastinum ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms

Intramedullary schwannomas without evidence of Von Recklinghausen's disease are extremely rare. We report a case of solitary intramedullary schwannoma of the dorsal spinal cord and review the literature on these rare neoplasms. The possible etiology of the tumor as well as wome difficulties encountered in the diagnostic procedure and treatment are discussed.
Neurilemmoma* ; Neurofibromatosis 1 ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms ; Spine*

Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Male ; Neurilemmoma ; Spinal Canal ; Spinal Neoplasms

The authors report 3 cases of primary intramedullary glioblastoma multiforme which is relatively rare among spinal cord tumors. They were located at the thoracolumbar, cervical and conus medullaris region respectively. Clinical, radiographic and pathological material are presented and the literature is discussed.
Conus Snail ; Glioblastoma* ; Prognosis ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms

Conventional laminectomy is the most popular technique for the complete removal of intradural spinal tumors. In particular, the central portion intramedullary tumor and large intradural extramedullary tumor often require a total laminectomy for the midline myelotomy, sufficient decompression, and adequate visualization. However, this technique has the disadvantages of a wide incision, extensive periosteal muscle dissection, and bony structural injury. Recently, split-spinous laminectomy and tubular retractor systems were found to decrease postoperative muscle injuries, skin incision size and discomfort. The combined technique of split-spinous laminectomy, using a quadrant tube retractor system allows for an excellent exposure of the tumor with minimal trauma of the surrounding tissue. We propose that this technique offers possible advantages over the traditional open tumor removal of the intradural spinal cord tumors, which covers one or two cervical levels and requires a total laminectomy.
Decompression ; Laminectomy ; Muscles ; Skin ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms