Benefits of spinal meningioma resection

BACKGROUND: Spinal meningiomas account for approximately 40% of intradural extramedullary tumors. As they are usually slow growing, some patients are often diagnosed late in the clinical course when they have developed myelopathy. METHODS: Here, we retrospectively studied a cohort of 51 patients undergoing surgery for spinal meningiomas. The median follow-up period was 45.9 months (range, 1–168 months). Assessment included evaluation of functional outcomes (e.g., comparison of the pre and postoperative status using the modified McCormick Functional Scale) and identification of prognostic factors. RESULTS: Seventeen patients with grade IV (McCormick Scale) neurological deficits on admission underwent surgical resection; 4 of 5 grade III (McCormick Scale) and 14 patients (Grade IV) improved within 2.11 months (mean time) postoperatively. There was no surgical mortality and the morbidity rate was 16%. CONCLUSION: Patients with advanced neurological deficits/myelopathy (Grades III or IV on the McCormick Scale) improved following surgical resection of spinal meningiomas.