Open AccessCord Compression from Bony Metastasis: An Important Quality of Life Issue which can be Resolved by a Spinal MDT Tumor Board
Author(s) -
Sheikh Muhammad Ebad Ali,
Badaruddin Sahito,
Muhammad Amin Chinoy,
Ahmed Nadeem Abbası,
Adil Khatri
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
national journal of health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2519-7878
pISSN - 2519-7053
DOI - 10.21089/njhs.53.0092
Subject(s) - medicine , spinal cord compression , dura mater , spinal cord , metastasis , malignancy , presentation (obstetrics) , pathology , cancer , surgery , psychiatry
Cancer prevalence is increasing over the past few decades. Spinal osseous metastasis is one of the most common sites of secondary neoplastic disease among cancer patients [1]. Spinal malignancies can broadly be classified into primary spinal cancers and secondary spinal metastasis. Metastatic spinal cancers are more common than primary malignancy of the spine. Metastatic spinal cancers are further subdivided into two parts based on the involvement of the dura mater; metastasis external to dura mater can be termed as metastatic epidural spinal cancers (MESC); metastasis inside the dura mater is called metastatic intradural spinal cancers (MISC) [2]. Bony involvements of vertebrae are common at the presentation of MESC while the involvement of the spinal cord and meninges is a prominent feature of MISC. However, the clinical presentation is quite overlapping and timely-decision making is quite challenging in several cases. Several grading systems have been developed to assess the severity of spinal cancers [3-6]. Such ambiguities require a need for teamwork between different specialties to decide the management plan for better patient care. Multidisciplinary Tumor Boards (MDT) are the practical venue where different specialists are present for the discussion [7].