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Primary spinal cord tumors: review of 678 surgically treated patients in Japan. A multicenter study

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Abstract

Purpose

To clarify the relative frequency of various histopathological primary spinal cord tumors and their features in Japanese people and to compare this data with other reports.

Methods

Primary spinal cord tumor surgical cases from 2000 to 2009, which were registered in our affiliated hospital database were collected. We examined age at surgery, sex, anatomical location, vertebral level of the tumor, and pathological diagnosis in each case.

Results

Of the 678 patients in our study, 377 patients (55.6 %) were males and 301 patients (44.4 %) were females (male/female ratio 1.25). The mean age at surgery was 52.4 years. Of these tumors, 123 cases (18.1 %) were intramedullary, 371 cases (54.7 %) were intradural extramedullary, 28 cases (4.1 %) were epidural, and 155 cases (22.9 %) were dumbbell tumors. The pathological diagnoses included 388 schwannomas (57.2 %), 79 meningiomas (11.6 %), 54 ependymomas (8.0 %), 27 hemangiomas (4.0 %), 23 hemangioblastomas (3.4 %), 23 neurofibromas (3.4 %), and 9 astrocytomas (1.3 %). The male/female ratios for schwannomas, meningiomas, ependymomas, hemangiomas, hemangioblastomas, neurofibromas, malignant lymphomas, and lipomas are 1.4, 0.34, 1.3, 1.5, 2.3, 1.3, 2.7 and 2.3, respectively.

Conclusion

This is the first published research in English on the epidemiology of primary spinal cord tumors in Japanese people. Similar to other reports from Asian countries, our data indicates a higher male/female ratio overall for spinal cord tumors, a higher proportion of nerve sheath cell tumors, and a lower proportion of meningiomas and neuroepithelial tumors compared to reports from non-Asian countries. Data in the current study represent the characteristics of primary spinal cord tumors in Asian countries.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all the staff of Nagoya Spine Group for allowing us to study their patients.

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65, Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8560, Japan

    Kenichi Hirano, Shiro Imagama, Zenya Ito, Norimitsu Wakao, Kei Ando, Ryoji Tauchi, Akio Muramoto & Naoki Ishiguro

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, 2-9, Myoken-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8650, Japan

    Koji Sato

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chubu Rosai Hospital, 1-10-6, Koumei-cho, Minato-ku, Nagoya, 455-8530, Japan

    Fumihiko Kato & Yasutsugu Yukawa

  4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Toyohashi Municipal Hospital, 50, Hakken-nishi, Aotake-cho, Toyohashi, 441-8570, Japan

    Hisatake Yoshihara

  5. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Aichi Medical University, 21, Karimata, Yazako, Nagakute-cho, Aichi-gun, 480-1195, Japan

    Mitshuhiro Kamiya

  6. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagano Red Cross Hospital, 5-22-1, Wakasato, Nagano, 380-8582, Japan

    Masao Deguchi

  7. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Konan Kosei Hospital, 137, Oomatsubara, Takaya-cho, Konan, 483-8704, Japan

    Tokumi Kanemura

  8. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kariya-Toyota General Hospital, 5-15, Sumiyoshi-cho, Kariya, 448-8505, Japan

    Yuji Matsubara

  9. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Anjo Kosei Hospital, 28, Higashihirokute, Anjo-cho, Anjo, 446-8602, Japan

    Hidefumi Inoh

  10. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Meijo Hospital, 1-3-1, Sannomaru, Naka-ku, Nagoya, 460-0001, Japan

    Noriaki Kawakami

  11. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kenritsu Tajimi Hospital, 5-161, Maehata-cho, Tajimi, 507-8522, Japan

    Tetsuro Takatsu

  12. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hamamatsu Medical University, 1-20-1, Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, 431-3192, Japan

    Yukihiro Matsuyama

Authors
  1. Kenichi Hirano
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  2. Shiro Imagama
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  3. Koji Sato
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  4. Fumihiko Kato
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  5. Yasutsugu Yukawa
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  6. Hisatake Yoshihara
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  7. Mitshuhiro Kamiya
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  8. Masao Deguchi
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  9. Tokumi Kanemura
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  10. Yuji Matsubara
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  11. Hidefumi Inoh
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  12. Noriaki Kawakami
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  13. Tetsuro Takatsu
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  14. Zenya Ito
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  15. Norimitsu Wakao
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  16. Kei Ando
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  17. Ryoji Tauchi
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  18. Akio Muramoto
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  19. Yukihiro Matsuyama
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  20. Naoki Ishiguro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shiro Imagama.

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Hirano, K., Imagama, S., Sato, K. et al. Primary spinal cord tumors: review of 678 surgically treated patients in Japan. A multicenter study. Eur Spine J 21, 2019–2026 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-012-2345-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-012-2345-5

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