Spinal Cord Neoplasms

Abstract

Spinal cord neoplasms are an uncommon cause of back pain, radicular pain, or sensorymotor defi cits. Primary tumors that involve the spinal cord or nerve roots may arise from glial cells located within the parenchyma of the cord, Schwann cells of the nerve roots, or meningeal cells covering the cord. Metastatic spinal cord tumor can result from dissemination of a primary systemic cancer or, more rarely, from drop metastasis of primary intracranial lesions. According to the literature, spinal tumors are divided on the basis of their location into three major groups: intradural intramedullary, intradural extramedullary, and extradural tumors. Intradural tumors are contained in the thecal sac and they can originate within the spinal cord tissue, classifi ed as intramedullary, or adjacent but extrinsic to the cord, classifi ed as extramedullary lesions.