Intramedullary lipomas are rare congenital tumors most commonly located in the cervicothoracic spinal cord. They are often benign (compared to intracranial), but can be difficult to remove. Ependymomas are most common in the filum (bottom region of the spinal cord), followed by the cervical region. Astrocytomas are more common in the thoracic region followed by the cervical. Astrocytomas and ependymomas are the two most common types. Frequency of occurrence in this location is approximately 5%. They typically derive from glial or ependymal cells (a type of glial cell) that are found throughout the interstitium of the spinal cord. Intramedullary – These tumors grow inside the spinal cord.Ependymomas at the end of the spinal cord can be large, and the delicate nature of fine neural structures in that area may make removal difficult.

Nerve root tumors are also generally benign, although neurofibromas may become malignant over time. Although meningiomas are often benign, they can be difficult to remove and may recur. The most common of these types of tumors develop in the spinal cord's arachnoid membrane (meningiomas), in the nerve roots that extend out from the spinal cord ( schwannomas and neurofibromas), or at the spinal cord base ( filum terminale ependymomas). Frequency of occurrence in this location is 40%.

Intradural-extramedullary – The tumor is located inside the thin covering of the spinal cord (the dura), but outside the actual spinal cord.

These basic areas are cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacrum.

By the region of the spine in which they occur.

Spinal tumors are referred to in two ways. Primary tumors originate in the spine or spinal cord, and metastatic or secondary tumors result from cancer spreading from another site to the spine. Spinal tumors can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).

These cells grow and multiply uncontrollably, seemingly unchecked by the mechanisms that control normal cells. Tests of the predictive accuracy of the technique using dendrites of known total spine number suggest that estimates which deviate from true total spine numbers by less than 10% can be achieved.Spinal Tumors | American Association of Neurological SurgeonsĪ spinal tumor is an abnormal mass of tissue within or surrounding the spinal cord and/or spinal column.

The technique entails the following principal steps: a determination, for a given length of dendrite over which spines are to be enumerated, of the volume of the flanking zones in which spines are visible and can be counted a determination of the volume of the entire zone which encircles the dendritic shaft and which contains all spines, both visible and not visible and a proportional extrapolation from the number of visible spines to obtain an estimate of the true total spine number. In the present report, a geometrically based method is presented whereby total dendritic spine numbers can be estimated with reasonable accuracy, taking into account factors such as dendrite diameter and spine length. This seriously restricts the usefulness of comparisons of spine density between dendrites, or even between segments of the same dendrite. The magnitude of underrepresentation correlates positively with dendritic shaft diameter and negatively with spine length. Such counts, limited to only those spines which are visible, underrepresent the true total number of spines borne by the dendrites. These studies have, for the most part, involved the enumeration of only those spines which protrude from the opaque shafts of Golgi-impregnated dendrites into the clear zones flanking the dendrite. The functional significance of dendritic spines and their morphological sensitivity to a wide spectrum of experimental manipulations and pathological states have led to a number of studies in which counts of dendritic spine number have been carried out.

Spine numbers