Spinal Space Occupying Lesions - Pathologic Spectrum

Abstract

Background: Space occupying lesions(SOL) of spinal canal are usually managed by excision.However correct diagnosis is essential for management decision.Though spinal lesions can be localised and diagnosed precisely with the help of neuroimaging techniques, still the diagnosis of any central nervous system SOL must ultimately be made by histological examination of tissue removed by surgical biopsy. Aims: To review the histologic spectrum of spinal space occupying lesions and to observe the relative frequency of different lesions along with their clinical profile with respect to age, sex, compartmental distribution, and spinal level involved. Materials and methods: Over a period of 5-years, 72 specimens (biopsy as well as surgical) of spinal space occupying lesions were studied in a tertiary care hospital in central India. Results: The most common age group affected was 41-60 years (35.08%) with a male preponderance. The majority of the lesions were neoplastic 61 (87%) mostly benign or low grade. The most common histologic diagnosis was benign nerve sheath tumor 22 (32.6%). All histopathological types, except meningioma, were more common in males as compared to females. Conclusion: Tissue diagnosis is imperative due to a wide variety of lesions in this area with differing prognosis and treatment modalities.

Keywords

• spinal space occupying lesion
• pathologic spectrum
• histopathology
• spinal lesion