Surgical treatment of intramedullary spinal cord tumors: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND

Intramedullary spinal cord tumors are a rare group of central nervous system tumors with special treatment approaches. The main problems are related to optimal time of surgery, invasiveness and recurrence of tumor.

OBJECTIVE

To review available literature data on the treatment of intramedullary spinal cord tumors, to summarize the main achievements and changes in treatment strategy over the past 5 years.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We reviewed Russian- and English-language literature on the treatment of intramedullary spinal cord tumors over the past five years. The studies were selected in accordance with PRISMA recommendations.

RESULTS

We analyzed literature data in the PubMed, eLibrary, Cochrane and Medline databases over the last 5 years. The studies were selected taking into account the relevance and quality of researches.

CONCLUSION

Large-scale studies are rare due to rarity of intramedullary spinal cord tumors. The main changes in surgery for intramedullary spinal cord tumors in recent years have occurred due to changes in surgical tactics (emphasis on functional status rather total resection), improvement of equipment for adjustment of surgical approach (MRI, intraoperative monitoring, intraoperative ultrasound), more accurate and effective adjuvant therapy contributing to preoperative shrinkage of tumor and preservation of functionally important areas.