The Surgical Outcome of Intramedullary Spinal Cord Tumors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36552/pjns.v28i3.989Abstract
Objective: This study focused on assessing the surgical outcome of the intramedullary spinal cord tumor.
Materials & Methods: A prospective study was conducted in the Department of Neurosurgery, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi. The clinical records and imaging studies of 42 patients with intramedullary spinal cord tumors who underwent surgery, were analyzed and followed up. The data was collected for tumor location, histology, extent of resection, and pre and postoperative neurological status.
Results: Around 64.3% of patients were predominantly males while 35.7% were females. The mean age was found to be 43.3 years. The highest frequency (52.4%) of tumors was located in the thoracic region. Most patients presented with Frankel’s grade C (52.4%). In 54.8% (n:23) patients, subtotal excision or incomplete excision was done, in 12 patients (28.6%), complete resection was done. In histology, most patients had low-grade Ependymoma (40.5% n:17) and 7 patients (16.7%) had high-grade Ependymoma. Postoperatively, 33.3% (n:14) patients had grade D and were able to walk, followed by 28.6% (n:12) with grade B.
Conclusion: Progression-free survival is increased by adjuvant radiation combined with subtotal resection; complete resection is still the key to improved results. Thoracic-located tumors possess an increased risk of surgical morbidity. The preoperative neurological function is an important predictor of increased functional survival, including histology and the extent of resection. Long-term survival outcomes are achieved with an early and aggressive surgical treatment targeted at total tumor excision.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Haris Hamid, Iram Bokhari, Asra Aslam, Bushra Maqsood, Muhammad Daniyal Mumtaz, Farrukh JaveedThe work published by PJNS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Copyrights on any open access article published by Pakistan Journal of Neurological Surgery are retained by the author(s).
