Prognostic factors and outcomes of surgical intervention for patients with spinal metastases secondary to lung cancer: an update systematic review and meta analysis

European Spine Journal - Lung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors. Most patients develop spinal metastases during the course of cancer and suffer skeletal-related events. Currently,...     

Prognostic factors in patients with spinal metastasis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Context

Incidence of symptomatic spinal metastasis has increased owing to improvement in treatment of the disease. One of the key factors that influences decision-making is expected patient survival. To our knowledge, no systematic reviews or meta-analysis have been conducted that review independent prognostic factors in spinal metastases.

动脉栓塞联合后路环形减压术治疗肺癌脊柱转移瘤压迫症

[目的]研究术前动脉栓塞联合后路经椎弓根环形减压内固定术治疗肺癌脊柱转移瘤脊髓压迫症(MESCC)的疗效和预后。[方法]前瞻性纳入30例肺癌MESCC患者为试验组,先行肿瘤供血动脉栓塞,再行环形减压术。回顾性纳入单纯胸腰椎后路椎板切除椎管减压内固定术的肺癌MESCC 52例患者为对照组。两组术前基线资料差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。比较两组术中出血量、手术时间、术后神经功能状况以及生存预后。[结果]试验组术中出血量显著少于对照组[(1 340.00±336.27) ml vs(2 475.60±340.80) ml,P0.05]。试验组手术时间明显低于对照组[(103.20±20.25) min vs(145.75±19.67) min,P0.05]。试验组手术相关并发症发生率为6.67%,对照组为15.38%。术后1周Frankel分级试验组优于对照组,试验组术后1周能行走率为86.67%,对照组为65.38%(P0.05)。试验组术后12个月生存率为30.00%,对照组为28.84%。[结论]选择性术前动脉栓塞联合后路经椎弓根环形减压术治疗肺癌MESCC是一种安全有效的方法。该方法可有效减少术中出血量、手术时间,并能改善患者术后运动功能,降低脊柱肿瘤切除术中风险,增加彻底切除肿瘤的可能性。     

Management of spinal cord compression secondary to metastatic prostatic carcinoma

Spinal cord or cauda equina compression from prostatic cancer is an oncologic emergency necessitating prompt evaluation and treatment. The strong correlation between pretreatment motor status and treatment outcome underscores the importance of immediate treatment before further neurologic deterioration and before the damage to the spinal cord becomes permanent. Patients with known osseous metastases should be alerted by their clinicians to seek medical help within hours should they develop weakness in an extremity. Prompt MRI of the entire spine should be done prior to treatment. Myelography should be reserved for those patients who cannot undergo a technically adequate or expeditious MRI study. The convenience of MRI relative to myelography allows clinicians to diagnose actual or impending spinal cord compression earlier. High-dose steroids (dexamethasone) should be instituted immediately, and endocrine therapy should be started if not already in use. Ambulatory and moderately paraparetic patients seem best treated initially with radiation alone. Immediate surgical decompression should be used in patients with an expected lifespan of at least 6 months who deteriorate during radiation, who have had previous radiation to the involved site, or who have a potentially correctable unstable spine. In addition, paraplegic patients or severely paraparetic patients with recent neurologic deterioration should be treated with immediate surgical decompression if they are judged reasonably able to tolerate the surgery. These patients should then receive postoperative radiation treatment.     

Surgical treatment of spinal cord compression in patients with lung cancer

We analyzed the clinical features, radiological findings, and results of surgical treatment in a series of 25 patients with lung cancer and invasion of the spine. In 12 of the 25 (40%) patients, involvement of the spine was present at the time of initial presentation of malignancy. Computed tomography revealed the presence of a large paravertebral soft tissue mass with destruction of adjacent ribs in the majority. The surgical approach consisted of an anterolateral exposure through a formal thoracotomy in 22 patients and a thoracoabdominal flank approach in the 3 patients with lumbar lesions. All gross tumor was resected from the involved paravertebral tissues, vertebral body, and epidural space. Immediate stabilization of the spine was then achieved with methyl methacrylate. Local brachytherapy (iridium-192 implants) was used in 19 patients. After treatment, 87% were ambulatory, and 67% maintained ambulation for more than 6 months. Our data suggest that compression of the spinal cord in many patients with lung cancer results from direct extension of tumor through the chest wall. Because the majority of such patients often have localized disease involving the spine, aggressive surgical treatment is indicated.     

Return to play in athletes with spinal cord concussion: a systematic literature review

Study Design

This is a systematic review.

短程放疗与长程放疗治疗转移性脊髓压迫的系统回顾与Meta分析

目的 系统评价短程放疗(short-term radiotherapy,STRT)与长程放疗(long-term radiotherapy,LTRT)对转移性脊髓压迫(metastatic spinal cord compression,MSCC)患者运动功能、6个月局部控制率和6个月生存率的影响.方法 对万方、知网、...     

Outcome after surgery for metastatic spinal cord compression in 54 patients with prostate cancer

Background and purpose

The criteria for selecting patients who may benefit from surgery of spinal cord compression in metastatic prostate cancer are poorly defined. We therefore studied patients operated for metastatic spinal cord compression in order to evaluate outcome of surgery and to find predictors of survival.

Patients and methods

We reviewed the records of 54 consecutive patients with metastatic prostate cancer who were operated for spinal cord compression at Umeå University Hospital. The indication for surgery was neurological deficit due to spinal cord compression. 41 patients had hormone-refractory cancer and 13 patients had previously untreated, hormone-naïve prostate cancer. 29 patients were operated with posterior decompression only, and in 25 patients posterior decompression and stabilization was performed.

Results

Preoperatively, 6/54 of patients were able to walk. 1 month after surgery, 33 patients were walking, 15 were non-ambulatory, and 6 had died. Mortality rate was 11% at 1 month, 41% at 6 months, and 59% at 1 year. In the hormone-naïve group, 8/13 patients were still alive with a median postoperative follow-up of 26 months. In the hormone-refractory group, median survival was 5 months. Patients with hormone-refractory disease and Karnofsky performance status (KPS) of ≤ 60% had median survival of 2.5 months, whereas those with KPS of 70% and KPS of ≥ 80% had a median survival of 7 months and 18 months, respectively (p < 0.001). Visceral metastases were present in 12/41 patients with hormone-refractory tumor at the time of spinal surgery, and their median survival was 4 months—as compared to 10 months in patients without visceral metastases (p = 0.003). Complications within 30 days of surgery occurred in 19/54 patients.

Interpretation

Our results indicate that patients with hormone-naive disease, and those with hormone-refractory disease with good performance status and lacking visceral metastases, may be helped by surgery for metastatic spinal cord compression.Bone metastasis occurs in more than 80% of patients with advanced prostate cancer, most commonly in the spine (Bubendorf et al. 2000). Spinal cord compression usually occurs in patients with advanced hormone-resistant disease, causing neurological complications detrimental to quality and duration of life (Clarke 2006). However, spinal cord compression may also be the first clinical manifestation of metastases in patients with previously localized disease, or may occasionally be the presenting sign in patients with previously unrecognized prostate cancer. Spinal cord compression in patients with prostate cancer has been reported to have an incidence of 3–7% (Kuban et al. 1986, Honnens de Lichtenberg et al. 1992, Loblaw et al. 2003).The outcome of surgery for spinal cord compression is usually reported in series involving different tumors, making it difficult to draw conclusions on specific tumor types (Jansson and Bauer 2006, Chaichana et al. 2009). In some studies limited to prostate cancer, surgical treatment has been analyzed together with results of radiation treatment, with a low number of patients operated (Huddart et al. 1997, Cereceda et al. 2003, Tazi et al. 2003). There have only been a few studies that have specifically addressed surgical treatment of metastatic spinal cord compression in prostate cancer (Shoskes and Perrin 1989, Williams et al. 2009). Furthermore, the criteria for selecting patients who may benefit from surgical therapy of spinal cord compression are poorly defined.We therefore studied patients with prostate cancer who were operated for metastatic spinal cord compression to evaluate outcome of surgery and to find predictors of survival and neurological restitution.     

Gliosarcoma metastatic to the cervical spinal cord: case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: We describe a case of an intramedullary metastasis to the cervical spinal cord from a temporal gliosarcoma. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 48-year-old man with known temporal lobe gliosarcoma presented with a new onset of ipsilateral hemiparesis. A MRI scan revealed the presence of an intramedullary lesion in the spinal cord behind the body of C2. Despite repeated craniotomy, radiation, and chemotherapy, the patient succumbed to a rapidly progressive disease. CONCLUSION: The case illustrates the ability of gliosarcoma to metastasize to other locations in the neuroaxis. We believe this to be the first case report of an intramedullary spinal cord metastasis from a gliosarcoma. The pathological features and available literature are reviewed.     

Anterior cervical intradural arachnoid cyst,a rare cause of spinal cord compression: a case report with video systematic literature review

Purpose

Mostly seen at the thoracic level, arachnoid cysts are a very rare cause of cervical spinal cord compression. Generally treated by laminectomy and cyst fenestration, this approach does not allow removing the cyst in its entirety without manipulating the weakened spinal cord. The aim of this report is to present the case of a cervical intradural arachnoid cyst surgically removed by an anterior approach with corporectomy.

Methods

Here is the case of an 18-year-old amateur boxer presenting with a voluminous cervical intradural anterior arachnoid cyst, extending from C2 to C5. Symptoms were cervical pain, quadriparesis, and clumsiness of both arms which had appeared just after a traffic accident. An anterior approach was chosen, through a C5 corporectomy.

Results

The patient totally recovered from his sensitive symptoms at discharge and from his motor symptoms 6 weeks later. Early as well as 3-years post-operatively, MRI confirmed expansion of the spinal cord without any centro-medullar signal. The patient remained asymptomatic 3 years after surgery. Since the first report in 1974, 16 cases of symptomatic cervical intradural arachnoid cysts were treated via a posterior approach, one by MRI-guided biopsy, and one was re-operated on through an anterior approach. For 14 patients, their conditions had improved, while one died of pneumonia, one presented a condition worsened, and one had a stable neurological status.

Conclusion

Using an anterior approach is a safe procedure that allows resection of a cervical arachnoid cyst without any manipulation of the weakened spinal cord, while giving the best possible view.

     

Prognostic factors of leg amputation in patients with vascular injury: a systematic review

Individual studies on the prognostic factors of leg amputation, due to vascular injury, have been small, and they have produced conflicting results. Reliable data are necessary so that surgery can be targeted more effectively. The authors carried out a systematic review from 1990 to 2002 to identify the high risk of patients to amputation. Meta-analysis was carried out. The authors found that patients with preoperative hypotension, popliteal artery injury, and associated bone and nerve injury had a significantly higher risk of leg amputation than those without these risk factors. Also, patients with postoperative infection had a higher chance of amputation than those without infection. This information is essential for an appropriate evaluation and the treatment of such patients.     

Extensive vertebral haemangioma with cord compression in two patients: review of the literature

Two cases of extensive vertebral haemangioma with progressive neurological deficits are described. Successful treatment was accomplished with palliative surgical decompression after preoperative embolization in one case and with postoperative radiotherapy in the other. Preoperative embolization, palliative surgical decompression and postoperative radiotherapy appear to provide satisfactory outcome in patients with extensive haemangiomas.     

Thoracic spinal cord compression by radiation-induced exostosis: a case report and review of the literature

A 38-year old man developed compressive myelopathy due to radiation-induced osteochondroma at T7. The patient had been given radiotherapy at the age of 7 years for a lymphosarcoma situated at the lower part of the neck. Radiation is an exceptional cause of spinal compression which can be avoided by regular surveillance of patients given radiotherapy in the spinal area as children.     

Treatment and prognosis of patients with paraplegia or quadriplegia because of metastatic spinal cord compression in prostate cancer

Metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) is a serious complication of metastatic prostate cancer (PCa). This study retrospectively evaluated patients who presented with paraplegia or quadriplegia because of MSCC of PCa. Of 847 patients with PCa who were treated between 1989 and 1998, 26 (3.1%) demonstrated paraplegia or quadriplegia because of MSCC. Characteristics, treatment efficacy, and prognosis of these patients were analyzed. In total, 15 cases became paraplegic despite androgen ablation therapy (Group I). Average time to paraplegia from initial hormonal treatment was 34 months. Out of nine cases who underwent radiation therapy (RT) to spinal lesions with/without chemotherapy, one patient became ambulatory. However, this patient subsequently had recurrent compression. Two cases had remission of paralysis. Two cases underwent laminectomy plus RT and in one case paralysis improved. MSCC was the first indication of PCa in 11 cases (Group II). Two cases underwent laminectomy plus hormone therapy and nine cases underwent hormone therapy alone. Four patients became ambulatory and two cases showed improved motor capacity. Average interval from paraplegia to death was 7.4 months in Group I and 27.1 months in Group II. However, there was no statistical difference in these two groups on disease-specific survival from the start of initial treatment. It is difficult to recover the ability to walk if paraplegia or quadriplegia occurs in PCa patients although decompression surgery plus hormone therapy seemed to impair the prognosis. Stage M1 patients with paraplegia had survival rates as good as stage M1 patients without paralysis. This should encourage an aggressive treatment approach. However, for patients with hormone-independent disease there seems to be no effective treatment and prognosis is poor.