Table 1.
Study number | Study, et al. | Number | Sex | Age | Level | Initial presentation | Surgical approach | Chemotherapy | Radiotherapy | Outcome | Death | Residual symptoms and/or recurrence | Follow-up period |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The current study | 1 | Male | 60 | T6 | Acute paraparesis and bilateral lower limb weakness | Decompression and complete surgical excision followed by fixation | No | Yes | Favorable | No | No | 1 y |
2 | Willatt et al 8 | 1 | Female | 72 | T2−T3 | 2-year of progressive pain in the upper thoracic spine radiating to the left arm and leg to her left arm and leg. She was non-responsive to pain relief but had no functional deficits |
Robot-assisted para-vertebral en-bloc tumor resection | No | No | Favorable | No | No | |
3 | Dokponou et al 9 | 1 | Male | 56 | T1−T3 | Dorsal back pain, LL fatigue, intermittent claudication complicated by bladder and bowel disturbances | Laminectomy with en bloc resection of the lesion | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 6 mo |
4 | Mihara et al 10 | 1 | Male | 75 | T2−T3 | 3-month history of progressive bilateral lower extremity numbness, hypesthesia, and spastic gait. | Laminectomy and complete resection of the tumor in a piece-by-piece manner | NM | NM | Favorable | No | Spasticity | 3 y |
5 | Kassels et al 1 | 1 | Female | 36 | T2−3 | Chest pain, dizziness, abdominal pain | Rt sided video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical resection | No | Yes | Favorable | No | No | 16 mo |
6 | Moune et al 11 | 1 | Male | 56 | T12 | T12-dorsal/intercostal pain | Laminectomy for tumor debulking, followed by gross total en bloc resection with fusion | Yes | Yes | Unfavorable | No | Recurrence | 2 y |
7 | Mahmoud et al 12 | 1 | Female | 18 | Extending from the left lower neck into the upper anterior mediastinum (cervicothoracic vertebrae) | Progressively worsening shortness of breath and dysphagia. | Extensive palliative debulking | No | Yes | Favorable | No | No | NM |
8 | Yoon et al 13 | 1 | Female | 52 | T4–5 | 3-month history of dysphagia | Video-assisted thoracotomy | Yes | Yes | Favorable | No | No | 1 y |
9 | Costanzo et al 14 | 1 | Male | 62 | T3−T4 | Thoracic pain, gait disturbance, bilateral lower limb weakness, and paresthesias below T2 level | Aggressive transthoracic resection of tumor | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 6 mo |
10 | Sobash et al 15 | 1 | Female | 62 | Right lung apex at levels of C7 to T2 | Right arm and hand numbness with a history of previous carpal tunnel release. | Incomplete resection | No | Yes | Unfavorable | No | Recurrence and regrowth of residual | 8 mo |
11 | Leary et al 16 | 2 | Male | 70 | T10–T12 | NM | 2-staged approach of en bloc resection and anterior column reconstruction with segmental fixation and fusion. | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM |
Male | 68 | C6−T4 | NM | A anterior trapped-door thoracotomy and parasagittal osteotomies followed by en bloc resection of the tumor, fixation and fusion | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | |||
12 | Supreeth et al 17 | 1 | Female | 52 | T4−5 | Incidental finding of posterior mediastinal mass with no significant medical history | VATS-assisted thoracotomy for mass excision and vertebral body en-bloc resection | Yes | No | Favorable | No | No | 1 y |
13 | Bai et al 18 | 1 | Male | 73 | Sacral (S1, S2) and thoracic (T11) | Intermittent lumbosacral pain and root pain of the lower limbs, which severely affected his gait and gradually led to difficulty in defecating and urinating | Posterior decompression followed by extended resection | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 24 mo |
14 | Liu et al 19 | 1 | Male | 64 | T5, T6 | 4-month history of continuous and progressive back pain | The patient underwent one-stage thoracoscopic release of vertebral and paravertebral tumors. | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 6 mo |
15 | Goomany et al 20 | 1 | Male | 46 | T10−T12 | 18-month history of progressively worsening thoracic back pain |
En bloc resection of a thoracic chordoma via a minimally invasive extreme lateral interbody fusion approach | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 8 y |
16 | Faheem et al 21 | 1 | Male | 8 | T11−L1 | Insidious onset, non-traumatic low back ache of 1-year duration along with paraparesis and urinary incontinence of 3 mo duration. |
Laminectomy. The tumor was decompressed with the help of a cavitron ultrasonic aspirator, and near-total excision was performed. A watertight dural closure was performed | NM | Yes | Favorable | No | Urinary incontinence. Lower limb muscle weakness | 10 mo |
17 | Pu et al 22 | 1 | Male | 41 | T10−L2 | Progressive low back pain at T10-L2 for 2 y. | Complete resection of the tumor and internal fixation of the vertebral bodies | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 30 mo |
18 | Kim et al 23 | 1 | Male | 60 | T7, T8, T9 | Unsuccessful attempted resection of a left-sided paraspinal mass spanning the level T7−T9 for a presumed diagnosis of schwannoma. | 2-staged en bloc surgical resection | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 1 y |
19 | Rena, et al 24 | 1 | Female | 69 | T2, T3 | Incidentally diagnosed in on routine chest X-ray as a left paravertebral mass. 8 y later she was presented with acute back pain associated with increasing paraparesis. | Thoracotomy and staged decompressive laminectomy | No | No | Favorbale | No | No | 30 d |
20 | Royo Crespo et al 25 | 1 | Male | 52 | T5, T6 | 6-month history of dorsal thoracic pain | Laminectomy and en bloc excision resection of the tumor, together with reconstruction | Yes | Yes | Favorable | No | No | 7 d |
21 | Conzo et al 26 | 1 | Male | 47 | T1, T2 | An asymptomatic patient incidentally misdiagnosed as a paraganglioma | Radical removal through a right extended cervicotomy | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 18 mo |
22 | Matsubayashi et al 27 | 1 | Female | 47 | Paravertebral thoracic posterior mediastinal not invading the bone | Incidentally detected on a chest radiograph | Surgically removal with thoracoscopic assistance | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 5 mo |
23 | Fernández Carballal et al 28 | 1 | Female | 31 | T1−T2 | 8-week history of gait disturbance. | Surgical resection using a laminectomy and complete facetectomy | NM | Yes | Favorable | No | No | 6 mo |
24 | Fontes and O’Toole 5 | 1 | Male | 89 | T10 | Incapacitating pain and early signs of thoracic myelopathy. | Intralesional posterolateral resection and reconstruction | No | Yes | Favorbale | No | No | 13 mo |
25 | Delgado et al 29 | 1 | Female | 68 | T7 | Moderate to intense pain in the upper abdomen, irradiating to the flanks, followed by weakness of the lower limbs, rapidly evolving to paralysis and urinary incontinence. Around admission, the patient presented flaccid paraplegia, global anesthesia below T4 and atonia of the anal sphincter. | Initial right costotransversectomy to decompress the fracture and remove material for pathological study followed by a trans pleural thoracotomy for corpectomy and anterior arthrodesis | NM | NM | Unfavorable | Yes | Circulatory instability and ischemia of the right hand followed by necrosis and amputation of the first, second and third finger followed by sepsis | <1 mo |
26 | Miyazawa et al 30 | 1 | Male | 37 | Thoracic vertebrae | Back pain | Surgical resection | No | Yes | Favorable | No | Backache and recurrence | 15 mo |
27 | Wang et al 31 | 1 | Female | 25 | T1−T5 | Incidentally, a huge upper mediastinal mass was found on chest radiographic examination. The only symptom probably associated with the mass was anhidrosis of her left hand. | The patient is still under evaluation for surgery. | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM |
28 | Van Kollenburg et al 32 | 1 | Female | 51 | T3−T4 | Paresthesia in the face and the upper thoracic area, dizziness, transpiration, and other mild signs of autonomic system disorders. Vague pain in the thoracic spine region and both legs for 1 y | Preoperatively embolization followed by palliative anterior resection with decompression of the spinal cord. Next, en bloc spondylectomy with the left second rib resection, followed by anterior fusion. | No | Yes | Favorable | No | Minor neurological symptoms and pain at the site of operation | 2 y |
29 | Bisceglia et al 33 | 1 | Male | 70 | T9 | 6-month history of backache, neurological symptoms and bilateral lower limb weakness and the patient was misdiagnosed as poorly differentiated metastatic large cell carcinoma was. 3 y later he was presented with back pain and hyposthenia of both lower extremities recurred, with the severity of the symptoms markedly increasing and progressing to complete paraparesis with bladder and bowel dysfunction. He was misdiagnosed as an irradiated metastatic adenocarcinoma to the thoracic vertebra | Bilateral laminectomy followed 3 y later by second palliative surgery for subtotal piecemeal removal of the tumor followed by reconstruction of the bony defect and stabilization | No | Yes | Unfavorable | Yes | Recurrence | 5 mo |
30 | Selvaraj and Wood 34 | 1 | Female | 33 | T2−T3 | Incidental finding on chest X-ray of bilobed paravertebral mass in the upper mediastinum. She subsequently developed swelling and redness of the face on lifting her hands to dress her hair and tingling sensation along the medial side of the left forearm. | Initial excision biopsy through thoracotomy followed by re-admission for a left posterolateral thoracotomy where the mass was excised. A third procedure was undertaken to excise the remnant of tissue. | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 6 |
31 | Smolders et al 35 | 1 | NM | NM | T7 | NM | Not mentioned | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM |
32 | Topsakal et al 36 | 1 | Female | 44 | Backache, lower limbs weakness and sphincter incontinence | Total resection combined with anterior interbody fusion through left trans pleural transthoracic approach | No | No | Favorable | No | Recurrence | 2 y | |
33 | Pai 37 | 1 | Male | 49 | T2−T3 | Pins and needles sensations from the chest down and unsteadiness on feet. Thoracic backache for many months and the spine had been manipulated by an osteopath on several occasions. Worsening of back pain in the days before being seen. | The tumor was too extensive for surgical treatment | Yes | Yes | Unfavorable | No | Grade II weakness in the lower limbs (wheelchair-bound with) and urinary incontinence. | 2 mo |
34 | Murphy et al 38 | 1 | Female | 39 | T1, T2, T3 | Gradual onset of hoarseness, dysphagia and increasing shortness of breath | Surgical resection of the tumor | No | No | Unfavorable | Yes | 10 d | |
35 | Holden et al 39 | 1 | Male | 20 | T4, T5 | 4-month history of worsening numbness in both thighs and a 1-month history of worsening ataxia | Thoracic laminectomy and uncomplicated removal of the tumor. | No | No | Favorable | No | No | NM |
36 | Levowitz et al 40 | 1 | Male | 64 | T1−T6 | Nonproductive cough of 3 mo duration. For many years the patient experienced a dull substernal pain unrelated to activity and occasional episodes of dysphagia. Later on he was admitted for pain in the right upper arm and cervical region of 1 month’s duration. The third admission was with bilateral upper arm pain associated with motor and sensory impairment involving the left hand. | Right thoracotomy | Yes | Yes | Unfavorable | No | Recurrence | 8 y |
37 | Suster and Moran 41 | 6 | Male | 8 | T7−T7 | Difficulty in swallowing | Piecemeal resection | No | No | Unfavorable | Yes | Recurrence | 3 y |
Female | 14 | T1−T4 | Incidental X-ray finding secondary to sports injury | Surgical excision | No | No | NM | No | No | LFU | |||
Female | 33 | Chest discomfort | Complete surgical excision | No | No | Favorable | No | No | 16 y | ||||
Male | 61 | Chest pain, SOB, left pleural effusion | Partial excision | No | No | Unfavorable | Yes | Recurrence | 1 y | ||||
Female | 63 | T5−T6 | Backache and SOB for 1-year | Complete surgical excision | No | No | NM | No | No | LFU | |||
Male | 65 | T3−T4 | Chest discomfort and SOB | Complete surgical excision | No | Yes | Favorable | No | No | 3 y | |||
38 | Taki et al 42 | 1 | Female | 15 | Left side of the upper posterior mediastinum | Asymptomatic with only left side Horner syndrome, and when chest radiograph was taken, it was incidental finding | Subtotal resection | NM | NM | NM | No | NM | NM |
39 | Ahrendt and Wesselhoeft 43 | 1 | Male | 9 | T3 | Right-sided chest pain during an upper respiratory infection. Chest x-ray demonstrated a right posterior mediastinal mass. | An exploratory thoracotomy and complete tumor excision leaving no evidence of residual gross disease | No | Yes | Favorable | No | No | 4 y 8 mo |
40 | Walsh and Mayer 44 | 1 | Female | 69 | T11 | Paresthesia from the back to mid waist | Right-sided transthoracic partial resection then posterior approach for total resection | No | Yes | Favorable | No | No | 7 y |
41 | Amendola et al 45 | 1 | Female | 66 | Thoracic vertebrae | Pain and soft tissue mass | Subtotal resection | No | Yes | Unfavorable | Yes | 6.5 y | |
42 | Ramiro et al 46 | 1 | Female | 33 | T4 | 3-month history of pain across the shoulders and progressive disturbance of gait. | Laminectomy and complete resection | NM | NM | Favorable | No | No | 1 y |
43 | Schwarz et al 47 | 1 | Male | 59 | T8 | Back pain and bilateral lower limb weakness | Initial posterior decompression, followed by left trans pleural transthoracic subtotal resection | No | Yes | Favorable | No | Expected to do well due to aggressive resection and lack of MetS | NM |
44 | Cotler et al 48 | 1 | Female | 14 | T3, T4, T5 | Whooping cough for 2 wk, then incidentally diagnosed when a roentgenogram was requested. | Transthoracic excision of the tumor and excision of anterior aspects of affected vertebrae | NM | NM | Favorable | No | No | 3 y |
45 | Clemons et al 49 | 1 | Female | 14 | Upper thoracic vertebrae | Asymptomatic incidentally diagnosed after sports injury, an X-ray revealed a right superior posterior mediastinal mass | Right thoracotomy and surgical resection. | No | No | NM | NM | NM | LFU |
46 | Burauzewski and Rudowski 50 | 2 | Male | 34 | T3, T4, T5 | 4 y earlier, the patient had received X-ray treatment because of pains in the chest, which had been present at that time for about a year. 4 y later symptoms reappeared and gradually increased. after radiotherapy and refusal of surgery, 6 mo later, he was brought with paralysis of the lower limbs | Laminectomy and decompression | No | Yes | Unfavorable | Yes | Acute circulatory failure | 2 d |
Male | 37 | T4 | Pains in the chest located in the lower left scapular area, followed a month later by pulmonary hemorrhages, disturbances of gait, and sensory changes in the lower limbs. | Laminectomy | NM | NM | Favorable | No | No | NM | |||
47 | Crowe and Muldoon 51 | 1 | Male | 30 | NM | Cough, anemia, weight loss, and right arm deficit | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM | NM |
Abbreviations: LFU, lost to follow-up; NM, not mentioned; SOB, shortness of breathing.