Abstract
Spinal cord tumor is divided into three types in its location ; intramedullary tumor, intradural extramedullary tumor, and extradural tumor. Dumbbell tumor has been known as a special type of spinal cord tumor which has both a component within the canal and a component in the paravertebral space linked by tumor traversing the neural exit foramen. We examined six cases of spinal cord dumbbell tumor which were treated surgically. We investigated these cases about pathological diagnosis, spinal level of tumor origin, Toyama classification of dumbbell tumor, surgical approach and recovery rates with Japan Orthopaedic Association scoring system(JOA score). We observed one cavernous hemangioma, one granular cell tumor and four schwannomas. Of six cases, one was origined in the cervical spine, four were in the thoracic, and one was in the lumbar. Based on Toyama classification, typeⅢb was found in three cases. TypeⅡa, Ⅱc and Ⅲa was found in one case respectively. Three cases of type Ⅲb were performed surgery with posterior and anterior approach and other three cases with posterior approach. The average recovery rate of the six cases was 60.5% using the Hirabayashi method. All cases showed neither the progress of the spinal deformity, nor neurological deficit, nor recurrence during follow-up period.
