Diagnosis and surgical therapy of plasma cell neoplasia of the spine

Abstract

Presented is a retrospective analysis of 27 patients with plasma cell neoplasms of the spine treated by surgery. Thirteen patients (48%) were bedridden due to tumor spinal cord compression, on average for 7 days before undergoing surgery.

Only 5 out of 13 bedridden patients (38%) regained the ability to walk after surgery and 8 patients (62%) remained bedridden despite successful surgical decompression of the spinal cord.

Keywords

• plasma cell neoplasia
• spinal cord compression
• late diagnosis
• outcome