ABSTRACT
Objective: There is as yet a paucity of data on intramedullary spinal cord tumours (IMSCTs) in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aims to define the clinical profile and outcome of management of IMSCTs in a Nigerian tertiary hospital. Methods: This is a retrospective study of all the patients who had surgery for IMSCTs in our hospital over a 14 year period. Results: There were 20 patients, 9 males, 11 females, in this study. The median age was 33 years (range = 7-78 years). The median duration of symptoms was 12 months (range = 1-120 months). Motor deficit was present in all but one (95%) of our patients. Only 25% of the patients presented in good functional status (McCormick grades I and II). The tumours were confined to the thoracic region in 10 patients (50%), while tumours in the thoracic region extending to the adjoining cervical and lumbar regions were seen in 6 patients (30%). Gross total tumour resection was achieved in 60% of the patients and subtotal resection in the remaining 40%. Astrocytoma and ependymoma were the most common tumours, each occurring in 35% of the cases. Six patients (30.0%) improved, 12 patients (60.0%) remained neurologically the same, while 2 patients (10.0%) deteriorated at the time of last follow up. The mortality rate was 15%. The preoperative functional status was a significant predictor of postoperative outcome (p = 0.03). Conclusion: Astrocytoma and ependymoma were the most common histological tumour types among our patients. Late presentation and poor pre-operative functional status were prominent features of our patients' cohort.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Paediatric spinal tumours are rare, accounting for 1-10% of all childhood central nervous system tumours. There is a paucity of information on spinal tumours in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is particularly so in the Nigerian paediatric population where neuro-oncologic data are limited. Indeed, there is no previously published work on paediatric spinal tumours in the Nigerian neurosurgical literature. The authors aim to document the profile of paediatric spinal tumours in a Nigerian tertiary institution and to contribute to the available data on paediatric central nervous system tumours in West Africa. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated data on paediatric patients who underwent surgery for spine tumours over a 20-year period at our institution. RESULTS: A total of 12 patients were managed for paediatric spine tumours during the study period. These had a male:female ratio of 1:1.4, and their ages ranged between 3 and 18 years (mean: 12.83 ± 4.75 years). The highest incidence (6/12) was seen in the 15-18 years age group. The mean duration of symptoms was 10.2 months. More than half (7/12) of the patients presented with symptoms with duration of at least 6 months. Motor deficit was present in all patients at presentation. Two-thirds of the tumours were in the thoracic region, 1 was located in the cervical region, while the remaining 3 tumours were cervicothoracic. The tumour was extradural in location in 8 of our patients and intramedullary in the remaining 4. Astrocytoma, intramedullary in all cases, was the most predominant histological tumour type (3/12) in our series. Postoperative neurological improvement occurred in 7 of the patients while 5 remained the same. There was no permanent postoperative neurological deterioration or perioperative mortality. CONCLUSION: Paediatric spinal tumours mostly affected older children in our study group and were predominantly astrocytic in nature. The most common tumour location was extradural, involving mostly the thoracic spinal level. The preoperative neurological status correlates with the postoperative functional outcome. Therefore, the need for early diagnosis and treatment of these tumours cannot be overemphasized.
