Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 23, Issue 11 , Pages 573-578, November 2007

Analysis of Surgically Treated Intraspinal Tumors in Southern Taiwan

  • Yu-Feng Su

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Ann-Shung Lieu

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chih-Lung Lin

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Kung-Shing Lee

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Yen-Fen Hwang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chun-Po Yen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chih-Zen Chang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Joon-Khim Loh

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Tzuu-Yuan Huang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Shiuh-Lin Hwang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Aij-Lie Kwan

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Sheng-Long Howng

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Chih-Jen Wang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr Chih-Jen Wang, Department of Neurosurgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan

Received 19 March 2007; accepted 11 July 2007.

Article Outline

The medical records of 117 patients with spinal tumors who underwent surgery with pathologic confirmation from January 1999 to April 2004 at Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital were reviewed. Data from this review were compared with those obtained from the same institution 10 years earlier (covering the period 1988-1995) and from other reported series. There were 69 male and 48 female patients aged from 13 to 87 years old (mean age, 51.9). The most common pathologic findings were metastasis in 45.3% (53/117), nerve sheath tumors in 28.2% (33/117), menin-giomas in 12% (14/117) and neuroepithelial tumors in 6% (7/117). The peak ages at diagnosis were 41-50 years and 61–70 years. A slight male predominance was noted for all tumors, except meningiomas. Motor weakness, even paralysis, was the major clinical presentation (64–86%), followed by sensory deficits (50%) and pain (42%). The location of tumors was most often in the thoracic (50.4%; 59/117), lumbosacral (27.4%; 32/117) and cervical spine (22.2%; 26/117) segments. Among the metastatic tumors, the lung (22.6%) and breast (15.1%) were the most common primary sites of origin, followed by unknown origin, the liver (hepatocellular carcinoma), the gastrointestinal tract and the nasopharynx (nasopharyngeal cancer).

Key Words:  intraspinal tumor , spinal metastasis , statistics , Taiwan

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PII: S1607-551X(08)70005-6

doi:10.1016/S1607-551X(08)70005-6

Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
Volume 23, Issue 11 , Pages 573-578, November 2007

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