Stereotactic radiosurgery for metastatic spine tumors.

Spinal metastases invariably affect the majority of patients with cancer. Many will develop symptoms related to pain and disability from epidural spinal cord compression as well as pathologic fracture of the vertebrae. With the emergence of targeted systemic therapies and a better understanding of cancer biology, patients are living longer with bony metastases. This poses particular challenges, as palliation of pain and maintenance of local tumor control are paramount to quality of life and overall functional independence for these patients. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) has emerged as a potent primary standalone and adjuvant treatment option for spinal metastases. To date, the primary indications for SRS include 1) upfront standalone treatment for painful bony metastases in the oligometastatic patient, 2) standalone or post-operative treatment following progression or recurrence of local disease despite previous conventional external beam radiation therapy (cEBRT), and 3) following surgery during which epidural disease is decompressed and the spine stabilized when indicated. SRS has demonstrated a significant advantage over cEBRT for tumors traditionally regarded as relatively radioresistant such as sarcoma, melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer and colon carcinoma.9 The radiobiological advantage of increased tumoricidal dose delivery and spinal cord dose sparing in SRS have made this a powerful treatment alternative to cEBRT particularly within the context of re-irradiation. Given the limitations of spinal cord dose constraints, surgery is still the first-line therapy in patients with high-grade epidural spinal cord compression (ESCC). Epidural compression can be treated with SRS, however this risks radiation-induced myelopathy and challenges the safety of effective dose delivery at the dural margin.11 With increasing dose, radiation-induced vertebral fracture is the most serious and prevalent side effect of SRS.53 An overview of SRS, including the most common indications, complications, and outcomes for spinal metastases are presented here.

Management of metastatic tumors of the spine: strategies and operative indications.

The spinal column is the most frequent site of bone metastasis in the body. Spine surgeons are often involved in the care of these patients only after nonoperative management has failed. Because surgery has been viewed as no better than radiotherapy in the treatment of metastasis of the spine, it has only been used as a salvage approach. These views are based on a body of literature in which laminectomy combined with radiotherapy was compared with radiotherapy alone. Anterior approaches to the spine are now popular and familiar to most surgeons. These approaches allow direct access to the metastatic lesion, reconstruction of the anterior vertebral column, and the placement of anterior instrumentation. Outcomes are frequently much better when this combined treatment is used instead of radiotherapy alone. In selected patients, surgery may be desired as first-line therapy before radio- or chemotherapy has been initiated. The controversy surrounding surgery for metastatic spinal disease is reviewed. Treatment strategies, both operative and nonoperative, are presented. Indications and strategies for surgery are also presented, and the supporting literature is reviewed.

Biomechanics of thoracic discectomy.

The thoracic spine is a structurally unique region that renders it uniquely susceptible to thoracic disc herniation. Surgical management strategies are complicated, in part, by the regional anatomical and biomechanical nuances. Surgical approaches include posterior, posterolateral, and anterior routes. Each is associated with specific indications and contraindications. The biomechanical principles and safe anatomical trajectories must be considered in the surgical decision-making process. These issues are discussed in the pages that follow.

Successful treatment of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus meningitis with linezolid: case report and review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the successful treatment of a case of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus meningitis with linezolid. DESIGN: Case report and review of the literature. PATIENTS: The patient is a 35-yr-old man who suffered a cerebellar hemorrhage after embolization of a cerebellar arteriovenous malformation. The patient underwent ventriculostomy drainage and craniectomy. The patient was on broad-spectrum antibiotics for pneumonia including vancomycin. The patient remained febrile and grew vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium from the cerebrospinal fluid. INTERVENTIONS: The patient was treated with intravenous chloramphenicol without success. On postoperative day 16, the patient was begun on intravenous linezolid. MAIN RESULTS: The patient received 4 wks of intravenous linezolid with complete eradication of the meningitis. CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous linezolid appears to be a safe and effective therapy for vancomycin-resistant enterococcus meningitis.

Metastatic seeding of the stereotactic biopsy tract in glioblastoma multiforme: case report and review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: The first case was recently reported of tumor seeding by glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) after stereotactic biopsy. This occurred despite radiosurgical treatment of the lesion post-biopsy. We report the first case of metastatic seeding along the needle biopsy tract of a GBM in which the tract was within the treatment field of subsequent fractionated radiation therapy. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 56-year-old man presented with left-sided focal motor seizures. An MRI showed an enhancing right cingulate gyrus lesion. INTERVENTION: A stereotactic biopsy of the lesion disclosed GBM. Radiation therapy was begun 25 days after biopsy and was completed 39 days thereafter. The biopsy tract received a minimum of 60 Gy. Subsequent magnetic resonance scanning showed the lesion to have doubled in size and evidence of enhancement along the biopsy tract. At surgery, specimens obtained from the biopsy tract, as determined using surgical navigation, revealed GBM. CONCLUSION: Seeding of the biopsy tract, radioresistance and the time interval until radiotherapy are the most likely explanations for tumor growth along the biopsy tract in this case. Consideration should be given for an early start to radiotherapy among those who undergo stereotactic biopsy for GBM. Further research will allow one to determine the radiosensitivity of these tumors and determine which patients may benefit from a radiosurgical or fractionated radiotherapy boost to the biopsy tract.