抄録
Experimental model of epidural spinal cord compression was produced in rabbits by injecting VX2 tumor cell suspension anterior to the Th-13 vertebral bodies. The tumor grows into the epidural space directly through the intervertebral foramina or by destroying the vertebral bodies to compress the spinal cord and produce paraplegia in 3 to 4 weeks.
Using this animal model, edema of the spinal cord compressed by epidural neoplasms was studied. The water content of compressed spinal cord (67.2±1.2%) was significantly increased, compared with that of normal spinal cord (65.7±0.7%). The ratio of sodium and potassium content had a tendency to increase in the compressed spinal cord. The uptake of 99mTc pertechnetate in the compressed spinal cord was significantly higher than that in the adjacent cord at the early stage of symptoms. The uptake was increased in proportion to the degree of neurologic symptoms. There was leakage of horseradish peroxidase into the gray matter of the compressed spinal cord. In areas of gray matter extravasation, the indicator appeared in the neurons.
These results indicate that breakdown of the blood-brain barrier and vasogenic edema develop in the spinal cord compressed by epidural neoplasms, and progress as the degree of compression increases.
