Open AccessRemoval of the third thoracic vertebra and partial lung resection for a radioresistant giant-cell tumour of the spine
Author(s) -
SE Larsson
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of bone and joint surgery. british volume/the journal of bone and joint surgery. british volume
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 0968-7300
pISSN - 0301-620X
DOI - 10.1302/0301-620x.61b4.500762
Subject(s) - medicine , paraplegia , laminectomy , surgery , spinal cord , thoracic vertebrae , vertebra , lung , radioresistance , decompression , sphincter , radiology , radiation therapy , lumbar vertebrae , lumbar , psychiatry
Total removal of the third thoracic vertebra and partial removal of the second and fourth vertebrae together with partial lung resection were successfully performed in a twenty-two-year-old woman with a large, radioresistant, giant-cell tumour which completely surrounded the spinal cord and extended over the left lung. On admission, the patient was in her third episode of paraplegia, the two previous episodes having been temporarily relieved after decompression of the spinal cord by laminectomy and partial removal of the tumour. Three and a half months after operation she was discharged walking without support and with normal sphincter control. Two years later she is free of symptoms and the neurological status is practically normal. Clinical and radiological examinations show no signs of recurrence of the tumour.