OBJECTIVETo summarize the clinical manifestation and diagnosis of ganglioneuroma in spine and investigate the clinical effect of surgical treatment.

METHODSThe clinical data of 6 patients underwent a surgery for ganglioneuroma in spine from January 2008 to January 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 4 males and 2 females, aged from 2 to 63 years old with an average of 34.6 years. The courses of disease were from 3 days to 17 years. Five patients complicated with superficial hypesthesia in correlative level of tumor, and the muscle strength under tumor plane had decreased at different levels, with the strength of grade II-IV. Two cases complicated with hypermyotonia and positive bilateral Hoffmann's and Babinski sign. Five cases were sporadic lesion in correlative spinal canal and one case complicated with the giant occupying lesion in thoracic cavity.

RESULTSSix operations had been performed including 5 en bloc and 1 subtotal resection. Postoperative pathological results showed tumor cells scattered or fasciculated inserted into Schwann cells in the stroma. In 2 patients complicated with radiculalgia before operation, 1 case was relieved and 1 was invariant after operation. All 4 patients with preoperative dyscinesia in the limbs obtained improvement after operation. All the patients were followed up from 0.3 to 6.8 years with an average of 2.5 years. At the final follow-up, according to ASIA grade, 5 cases were good and 1 case was invariant. During the follow-up, only 1 patient experienced chemoradiation because of merging ganglioneuroblastoma and receiving subtotal resection. No recurrence in other 5 cases.

CONCLUSIONGanglioneuroma is a benign and rare tumors in spine. Clinically, radicular pain and sensory-motor disorders are the main manifestations. Its diagnosis depends on pathological examination. Prognosis of surgical treatment is good.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Ganglioneuroma ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery

No abstract available.
Adolescent ; Back Pain/diagnosis/*etiology/surgery ; Decompression, Surgical ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Osteoblastoma/*complications/pathology/radiography/surgery ; Pain Measurement ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Spinal Neoplasms/*complications/pathology/radiography/surgery ; *Thoracic Vertebrae/pathology/radiography/surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo evaluate surgical strategy and clinical outcomes for the treatment of thoracolumbar metastatic tumor.

METHODSFrom January 2009 to December 2010,42 patients with thoracolumbar metastatic tumor were treated surgically. Among the patients, 30 patients were male, and 12 patients were female, ranging in age from 28 to 76 years old, with an average age of 56.8 years old. Twenty-five patients had metastatic tumor in thoracic vertebraes, and 17 patients had metastatic tumor in lumbar vertebraes. Thirty-four patients had metastatic tumor in 1 segment, 6 patients had metastatic tumor in 2 segments and 2 patients had metastatic tumor in 3 segments. Two patients had no symptoms and 40 patients had back or leg pain. Eighteen patients had neurologic deficits, and 5 patients had injuries of A degree, 3 patients had injuries of B degree, 4 patients had injuries of C degree, 6 patients had injuries of D degree according to ASIA grading system. The operation goal was made according to Tomita evaluation. The surgical procedures included pallative decompression, tumor curettage and total vertebrectomy, which were decided based on Tomita classification. The pain, spinal cord function,part control of tumor,survival rate and conditions of internal fixation were evaluated at 1 week, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years after operation.

RESULTSOne patient died in the operation. Pain relief was obtained in 38 patients after operation. Among 18 patients suffering from spinal cord compromise, 17 patients improved 1 to 4 grades after surgery according to the ASIA grading system. All the patients were followed up and the duration ranged from 24 to 48 months, with a mean time of 34.2 months. Five patients got recurrence. The postoperative survival rates at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years were 95.2%, 85.7%, 58.2%, 37.6% respectively.

CONCLUSIONAccording to Tomita system, the different surgical treatments can be selected for patients with spinal metastatic tumors, which can relieve pain, improve the neurological status and spine stabilization, maintain local control, improve quality of life.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; secondary ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; Treatment Outcome

Adult ; Cervical Vertebrae ; Female ; Giant Cell Tumor of Bone ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery

BACKGROUNDChordomas of the upper cervical spine are rare and present unique surgical challenge. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and surgical management of patients with chordomas of the upper cervical spine.

METHODSTwenty-one patients with chordomas of the upper cervical spine who were treated in Peking University Third Hospital from January 1999 to October 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. Survival was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and was compared between groups using the log-rank test.

RESULTSThe postoperative diagnosis was classical chordoma in 20 cases and chondroid chordoma in one case. The mean operative time was 9.5 hours (range 6-17 hours), and the mean blood loss was 2 812 ml (range 700-4 800 ml). There were two postoperative deaths. Unilateral vertebral artery ligation was performed in six patients, cervical nerve roots were cut in six patients, and the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve was repaired after being cut in one case. Two patients developed postoperative velopharyngeal incompetence, and loosening of the occipitocervical screws was observed in one patient. The recurrence rate was 66.7% (10/15) after a mean follow-up period of 46.8 months (range 14-150 months). The 5- and 10- year overall survival rates were (39.8±13.1)% and (31.9±12.7)%, respectively. There was a significant difference in survival rate between patients who underwent surgery and those who did not.

CONCLUSIONIn spite of the high rates of recurrence and complications after surgical treatment of chordomas of the upper cervical spine, intralesional resection combined with adjuvant radiotherapy remains the optimal treatment to prolong survival.

Adult ; Aged ; Cervical Vertebrae ; pathology ; surgery ; Chordoma ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

Adult ; Calmodulin-Binding Proteins ; metabolism ; Desmin ; metabolism ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Leiomyoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Leiomyosarcoma ; pathology ; Spinal Canal ; Spinal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Young Adult

Intramedullary spinal cord metastasis (ISCM) from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is rare manifestation and most of them are treated by adjuvant treatment modalities like radiotherapy. Despite the radio-resistance of RCC itself, focal radiotherapy has been preferred as the first-line treatment modality of ISCM from RCC and only a few cases underwent surgical treatment. We describe a case of ISCM from RCC, which underwent surgical excision and pathologically confirmed. A 44-yr-old man was presented with rapid deterioration of motor weakness during focal radiotherapy for ISCM from RCC. After the surgery for removal of the tumor mass and spinal cord decompression, his motor power was dramatically improved to ambulate by himself. We report the first published Korean case of ISCM from RCC confirmed pathologically and describe our surgical experience and his clinical characteristics.
Adult ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratins/metabolism ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Motor Activity/physiology ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms/pathology/secondary/*surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome ; Vimentin/metabolism

OBJECTIVETo identify the survival prognostic factors and clinical outcome of the patients with spinal metastatic tumors and to discuss the surgical treatment strategy of spinal metastatic tumors.

METHODSThe patients with spinal metastatic tumors who received surgeries during January 2003 to June 2012 were enrolled. The survival was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier survival curve. The prognostic factors, divided into patient-related factors, tumor-related factors and therapy-related factors, were analyzed univariately and multivariately by Cox comparative hazard model.

RESULTSThere were 453 patients were enrolled in research including 263 male and 190 female patients with an average age of (56 ± 13) years (10-86 years). The median postoperative survival was 9 months. Local recurrences and peri-operative complications were found in 78 (17.2%) and 72 (15.9%) patients, respectively. Univariate analysis showed the significant prognostic factors for postoperative survival included poor preoperative general condition (χ(2) = 4.16), severe preoperative neurologic deficit(χ(2) = 10.23), not receiving bisphosphonate therapy(χ(2) = 10.47), short disease-free interval before spinal metastasis (χ(2) = 23.31), spinal metastasis as the first manifestation (χ(2) = 10.94), rapid-growth primary tumor(χ(2) = 15.45), visceral metastasis (χ(2) = 4.10), not receiving postoperative radiotherapy(χ(2) = 18.10) and not receiving post-operative sensitive systemic therapy(χ(2) = 11.20) (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed the independent prognostic factors include severe preoperative neurologic deficit (P = 0.012, 95%CI: 1.11-2.30), short disease-free interval before spinal metastasis (P = 0.023, 95%CI:1.05-1.83), rapid-growth primary tumor (P = 0.000, 95%CI:1.74-3.06), visceral metastasis (P = 0.008, 95%CI: 1.08-1.68), not receiving postoperative radiotherapy (P = 0.000, 95%CI:1.38-2.35) and not receiving post-operative sensitive systemic therapy (P = 0.045, 95%CI:1.01-1.58).

CONCLUSIONThe prognostic factors for survival are useful for determining the indication of operation and improving survival and clinical outcome for patients with spinal metastatic tumors.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; secondary ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Cervical Vertebrae ; Hemangioma, Cavernous ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rupture, Spontaneous ; Spinal Canal ; pathology ; Spinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery

Radiation-induced spinal cord gliomas are extremely rare. Since the first case was reported in 1980, only six additional cases have been reported.; The radiation-induced gliomas were related to the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma, thyroid cancer, and medullomyoblastoma, and to multiple chest fluoroscopic examinations in pulmonary tuberculosis patient. We report a case of radiation-induced spinal cord glioblastoma developed in a 17-year-old girl after a 13-year latency period following radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal rhabdomyosarcoma. MRI findings of our case are described.
Contrast Media/diagnostic use ; Female ; Gadolinium DTPA/diagnostic use ; Glioblastoma/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery ; Humans ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/*radiotherapy ; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced/*diagnosis/pathology ; Rhabdomyosarcoma/*radiotherapy ; Spinal Cord Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/surgery