Benign or malignant neoplasms in the spinal cord are quite rare - only 10% of all pathologies of the organ. They can be primary or secondary (metastases of cancer of neighboring organs). Symptoms of a spinal cord tumor may not appear for a long time, especially if it is benign. The growth of neoplasm worsens the situation. In men and women, the disease develops with the same frequency. Rarely, the tumor appears in the elderly and children.
Reasons for appearance
Before considering the symptoms of a spinal cord tumor, you need to know why it appears. There are two types of reasons.
Internal causes:
- Genetic changes during fetal development.
- Metastases of neoplasms of other organs.
- Previously past cancer.
- Frequent stressful situations, emotional outbursts.
- Neurofibromatosis.
- Immunity dysfunction.
- Inflammatorypathology.
- Cerebrotinal angiomatosis.
- Injury of the spinal column.
External causes:
- Difficult environmental situation.
- Living close to high voltage lines.
- The effect of radiation.
- Exposure to chemicals, toxic agents.
A benign tumor of the spinal cord, if it does not grow, may not appear for a long time and is discovered quite by accident.
Disease classification
Classification of spinal cord tumors is as follows:
- By origin: primary, secondary.
- By the level of benignity: histological (cell cancer: angioma, lipoma, sarcoma), topographic.
Also, the disease is classified by location:
- Intramedullary tumor of the spinal cord. It grows inside the spine and is able to affect the substance of the brain. The main danger of such formations is injury to the spinal column. The formation of such tumors is associated with a violation in the structure of the cerebrospinal fluid in case of compression of the jugular vein. A person's mobility is impaired, and sensitivity is also deteriorating.
- Extramedullary tumor of the spinal cord. These types of neoplasms are considered the most insidious. They begin to grow on the outer shell of the spinal cord or brain. Their danger lies in the fact that they give metastases. Such formations are characterized by clear neurological symptoms. Fortheir removal uses minimally invasive techniques to avoid damage to the spinal cord.
- Intradural tumors. They grow in the sheath of the spinal cord and put pressure on it, causing various severe symptoms. Such formations can also be found on the nerve processes. Most often they are primary, but have a favorable outcome. Surgical intervention is necessary here only in case of a rapid increase in the size of the tumor.
- Extradural. These tumors are the least likely to develop. They are true and false. In the first case, the neoplasm is formed inside the spinal canal. The tumor includes nerve roots, the outer layer of the dura, fat cells and blood vessels.
You can also distinguish the following classification of neoplasms:
- Neurinoma. Most often, it develops at the site of highly differentiated cells. In most cases, it is benign and does not pose a threat to life.
- Lipoma. This formation is made up of fat cells. It is not prone to rebirth, but it can grow rapidly and destroy the spine, so its functionality is impaired.
- Ependymoma. It can be benign or malignant. It develops in nerve conductive tissues. It is dangerous because it can give metastases in the spinal cord. Affected cells spread through CSF.
- Angioma. Its feature is the presence of blood and lymphatic vessels. If doctors do not intervene in time, then there is a riskcausing internal bleeding.
- Sarcoma. Such a formation is malignant. It can develop from any connective tissue. The tumor is found in patients older than 25.
Tumours of the brain and spinal cord are dangerous complications, so at the slightest sign of organ damage, you need to be examined.
Symptoms of pathology
In most cases, the symptoms of a spinal cord tumor are nonspecific, so it is not always possible to immediately suspect a pathology. The general manifestations of the disease are:
- Pain syndrome in the back, which tends to spread to the entire spine.
- Atrophy of muscle tissue.
- Violation of sensitivity in the arms or legs (depending on the location of the tumor process) or complete paralysis.
- Problems with gait: the person may stumble and fall.
- Reduced tactile sensitivity.
- Paresis and paralysis.
- Violation of intestinal motility, the work of the excretory system.
- Drowsiness, fatigue, general weakness.
- Swallowing problems: difficulty speaking.
- Pathologies of the cardiac system.
- Vegetative dysfunctions. With a significant development of the tumor process, the work of the excretory system is disrupted. In the last stages of the development of the pathology, fecal incontinence, spontaneous excretion of urine is observed.
Also, some symptoms of a spinal cord tumor can be combined into syndromes: radicular, conductive.
Manifestations of the disease depending on localization
Symptoms of a tumor of the spinal cord (the prognosis of the disease depends on the degree of damage) are also determined by the location of the neoplasm. Moreover, the manifestations are somewhat different:
- Tumours of the cervical spinal cord. The patient develops pain in this area, and it spreads to other parts of the spine. The muscles gradually atrophy, the sensitivity and mobility of the hands is limited. The pathology extends to the diaphragm, so a person often develops respiratory failure.
- Swelling in the chest. Here the pain syndrome has a girdle character. Sensitivity may disappear in both hands and feet. Motor functions are also impaired.
- Tumor in the lumbar. The pain syndrome spreads to the lower back and abdomen. There is a violation of the blood circulation of the internal organs. The thigh muscles atrophy. If the mobility and sensitivity of the legs deteriorates, then the hands do not suffer.
- Tumor in the sacral part. The patient feels pain that spreads to the legs and lower back. It often worsens at night and when moving.
Despite the localization of the neoplasm, it is necessary to try to identify the symptoms of a spinal cord tumor in the early stages of development. In this case, the chance of a favorable outcome increases.
Development stages
It must be remembered that any spinal cord injury is insidious, because the symptoms are not always specific. There are several stages in the development of pathology:
- Neurological. Here there is a loss of sensitivity in a mild degree. Pain is detected in the back region, but its intensity is insignificant. At this stage, the patient can be for years, unaware of the problem. This course is often characterized by benign tumors with slow growth. For 10-15 years, a person does not go to the doctor, because he does not suspect the seriousness of the situation.
- Brown-Sakarovskaya. After the neoplasm grows, it begins to put pressure on the spinal cord and can displace it. Here the symptoms intensify.
- Paraparesis. At this stage, there is a violation of the functionality of the autonomic system, the organs of the pelvic region. Sensorimotor disorders become more pronounced. A person develops paralysis of the limbs, and it can be both temporary and permanent. In the area above the neoplasm, the skin becomes red. If the tumor is malignant, then paralysis occurs within 3-4 months. Life expectancy here is six months to a year.
If symptoms of a spinal cord tumor appear, the prognosis is determined by the degree of development and malignancy of the pathological process, the effectiveness and timeliness of therapy.
Disease diagnosis
Symptoms of a tumor of the cervical spinal cord are in many ways similar to lesions in other parts of it, but treatment tactics are always selected individually. To do this, you should undergo a survey that involves the following studies:
- Collecting an anamnesis. The specialist must find out when the first symptoms appeared, what characterizes the clinical picture.
- Study of the structure of chromosomes. With oncological damage to cells, their DNA changes.
- X-ray. It is done in two projections. Thanks to such a study, it is possible to detect the expansion of the vertebral arches, the destruction of bone tissue, its displacement.
- Myelography. The present study involves the use of water-soluble contrast.
- Blood test for tumor markers.
- Angiography - contrast determination of the state of the blood vessels of the spinal cord.
- Neurological examination. Here, the sensitivity of body parts, reflexes, the level of muscle tone, sensory strength are tested.
- CT or MRI. These methods provide complete and accurate information regarding the type and location of the formation, the degree of damage to the spine and spinal cord.
- Spinal puncture. There may be too much protein in the CSF.
- Scintigraphy. It is used when a cancer is suspected. Research can detect it in its early stages of development.
Diagnostics must be differential. It is important to distinguish a tumor from an intervertebral hernia, congenital anomalies in the structure of the spine, atrophic sclerosis (an equally dangerous disease), and spinal stroke.
Cure disease
According to the ICD, spinal cord tumors are assigned the following codes: С.72 (malignantneoplasm), D.33.3 (benign neoplasms). In any case, the disease must be treated so that complications do not arise. There are different therapies.
| Method name | Features |
| Therapeutic | It is used at any stage of treatment, but it will be most effective only in the early stages of the development of pathology, when the immune system can still fight the tumor on its own. Medicines help with a small amount of affected tissue and the absence of metastases, if the tumor does not grow too quickly |
| Surgical | Removal of a tumor of the spinal cord is the main method of treatment, which in some cases helps to completely get rid of the problem. The success of the intervention depends on the general condition of the patient, the degree of spread of the pathological process and damage to the spinal cord, and the level of its malignancy. Intramedullary tumor of the spinal cord is difficult to treat because it develops inside the spine and can damage it |
| Ultrasonic aspiration | This is a minimally invasive way to fight the disease, which consists in removing the formation with an ultrasound beam. It aims directly at the tumor, and with high accuracy. There are practically no side effects of such an operation |
| Radiation therapy | With spinal cord tumors, surgery is the only way to fix the problem. But it requires additional treatment and rehabilitation. Radiation therapy is used inif a small part of the damaged cells could not be removed. It is used if the tumor is inoperable or metastases are present. A significant disadvantage of this method of therapy is a huge number of side effects, because he althy tissues are damaged. It takes a long time to recover from such treatment |
| Chemotherapy | Its purpose depends on the prevalence of the pathological process. It is very important to choose the right drugs. They are administered mainly intravenously, although in rare cases injections are made into the muscle |
| Radiotherapy | Specialists affect the tumor with a stream of gamma rays. It is able to completely destroy the DNA of the affected cells. Such treatment is prescribed more often for large neoplasms |
As for the use of folk remedies, they must be authorized by a doctor. It is worth remembering that decoctions are not a panacea and cannot get rid of neoplasms. But folk recipes can reduce its size, stop growth, strengthen immunity.
Features of the therapeutic regimen
The general principles of treatment in this case are as follows:
- One should take such decoctions of herbs that restore immunity, normalize the functionality of internal organs, cleanse the body of toxins.
- Try to take the prescribed courses of therapy to exclude the development of metastases.
- Follow your diet.
- Try to keep emotional,psychological balance. Instability of the nervous system will only aggravate the situation.
After surgery, the patient needs a long period of rehabilitation. It provides for the use of massage, therapeutic exercises, as well as physiotherapy procedures. Their goal is to quickly restore damaged tissues and mobility of the spine, improve the sensitivity of the limbs. Regular exercise will prevent muscle atrophy, improve blood circulation and microcirculation, and normalize tissue nutrition.
Prognosis and complications of the disease
It all depends on the size of the tumor, the degree of damage to the spinal cord, destruction of the spine. Timely removal of an extramedullary tumor gives a chance for a full recovery. Internal neoplasms have a more unfavorable prognosis. Even surgery may not always help, as the spinal cord may be too damaged.
Disability is caused by primary tumors. With early diagnosis and correct therapy, the prognosis is favorable. If the treatment is incorrect or belated, then the following complications arise:
- Systematic back pain that cannot be relieved even with strong drugs.
- Impaired mobility and, as a result, disability.
- Fecal incontinence, urine.
- Problems with sensation in certain parts of the body.
Timely therapy will help to avoid such problems. However, the patient needs to consult an experiencedspecialist. Self-medication in this case is deadly.
Prevention of pathology
There are no specific tips that could 100% help to avoid pathology. However, it is necessary to follow the general recommendations of experts:
- Keep an active lifestyle, give up bad habits and foods, eat rationally.
- Speak to a doctor promptly if you experience strange symptoms, as well as periodically undergo preventive medical examinations.
- Strengthen immunity. Here you need to use multivitamins, temper the body.
- Avoid viral and infectious pathologies. During epidemics, avoid contact with infected people.
- Avoid emotional outbursts, stressful situations.
- Prevent spinal injury.
Attentive attitude to one's own he alth will help to avoid the appearance of pathology or to detect it in the early stages, when it will be easier to overcome it. Tumors of the spinal cord can leave a person disabled or even kill, so when the first symptoms appear, it is necessary to be examined.
