Hemilaminectomy for the removal of the spinal tumors: An analysis of 901 patients.

Objective: We report our experience with the use of hemilaminectomy approach for the removal of benign intraspinal tumors. Method: A retrospective review of 1,067 patients who underwent hemilaminectomy in our hospital between 2013 and 2019 was analyzed. Baseline medical data were collected. One hundred sixteen patients were excluded due to degenerative diseases, spinal bone tumors, and malignant tumors. The remaining 901 patients (916 tumors) were enrolled. The Dennis Pain Scale (DPS) was used to assess improvement in pain before surgery and during long-term follow-up. Neurological status was assessed using the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale. Results: The age of the patients was 48.7 ± 15.3 years, the duration of symptoms was 16.5 ± 32.0 months, and the tumor size was 2.6 ± 1.4 cm. Three hundred two tumors were located in the cervical region, 42 in the cervicothoracic region, 234 in the thoracic region, 57 in the thoracolumbar region, and 281 in the lumbar and lumbosacral region. Twenty-three tumors were ventrally located, 677 were dorsal or dorsolateral, 63 were intramedullary, 87 were epidural, and the rest were dumbbell-shaped. The most common pathologies were schwannomas (601, 66.7%) and meningiomas (172, 19.1%). Total excision was achieved at 97.8%. The operative time was 94.3 ± 32.6 min and the blood loss during surgery was 96.9 ± 116.5 ml. The symptom of pain improved in 87.0% of patients during long-term follow-up, neurological function improved in 68.3% and remained unchanged at 30.5%. Conclusion: The hemilaminectomy approach was a rapid and safe procedure to remove intradural and extradural tumors. This approach has offered several advantages. It could be used for the resection of most extradural or intradural extramedullary lesions, even some intramedullary tumors.

Surgical outcomes of spinal cavernous malformations: A retrospective study of 98 patients.

Objective: Spinal cord cavernous malformation (SCCM) is a rare vascular lesion, and the treatment strategy remains controversial at present. The goal of this retrospective study was to analyze the surgical outcomes of the SCCM and to find more appropriate treatment strategies for a better prognosis. Method: A retrospective review of 98 patients with SCCM from 2009 to 2018 was conducted at the neurosurgical center of our hospital. Neurological function was assessed using the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale. Clinical features were analyzed using the multivariable logistic regression. Results: Ninety-eight patients with SCCM were included, of whom 36% were female and 64% male. The mean age was 41.6 years; and family history was reported in 8% of patients. Definite hemorrhage was found in 6%. Before surgery, the neurological status was Grade A in 2%, Grade B in 2%, Grade C in 12%, Grade D in 54%, and Grade E in 30% of the patients. 83% (81/98) patients had long-term follow-up, of whom, 42% had improved, 51% were stable and 7% had deteriorated. Patients with dorsal or superficial lesions showed better improvement than those with ventral or lateral deep lesions. Those with symptoms lasting less than three months had higher rates of improvement than those with symptoms lasting more than three months. However, there was no significant difference in prognosis between hemilaminectomy and laminectomy. Conclusion: These results suggest that surgical strategies should be preferred for severe symptomatic SCCMs if total resection can be achieved, thereby avoiding the risk of severe complications with subsequent lesion hemorrhage. Earlier (usually within 3 months of symptom duration) surgical resection generally may lead to a better prognosis. For ventral or lateral deep SCCMs, the surgical strategy should be considered more carefully.

Distinctive Surgical Strategy for Removal of String of Beadlike Schwannomas of Cauda Equina.

BACKGROUND: Spinal schwannomas are the most common intradural extramedullary tumors. However, a string of beadlike schwannomas is rare. In some cases, the beadlike tumors might present a multiple segmental growing pattern, often located in the lumbar spinal canal and on 1 nerve fiber. Despite its benign nature, the resection of this string of beadlike tumors could be a challenge to neurosurgeons, especially when the tumors extend to a long distance. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 50-year-old female was admitted to our hospital, and her diagnosis was beadlike schwannomas. We performed 2 small hemilaminectomies and pulled all the tumors out gently. The patient made a full recovery quickly after resection. CONCLUSIONS: In this case, we first reported a new surgical approach for the removal of a string of beadlike cauda equina schwannomas. We hypothesize that this procedure would be a potential addition to the present surgical methods under some circumstances.

Rare Giant Intradural Extramedullary Ependymoma.

A 23-year-old female was admitted to our hospital because she had suffered from back pain for 3 years and paralysis of both lower limbs for 10 days. Neurologic examination showed sensory disturbance and complete paralysis in bilateral lower extremities with negative Babinski sign. Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging showed there was an enhanced intradural lesion between T2 and T12, which pressed the spinal cord. The lesion was resected completely by laminectomy approach, and the tumor was totally intradural extramedullary. Postoperative pathologic findings confirmed that the lesion was ependymoma. Preoperative symptoms recovered slightly after surgery. The back pain disappeared and muscle strength of both lower extremities returned to level 4 one year after the operation. Meanwhile, her sensory function in both legs improved but was not completely normal. Intradural extramedullary primary ependymomas are rare. To our knowledge, this case is the largest one ever reported in the literature.