A retrospective and consecutive analysis of the epidemiology and management of spinal cavernomas over the last 20 years in a single center

Spinal cavernous malformations (SCM) are rare lesions often presenting with acute onset of symptoms and progressive neurological deterioration due to hemorrhage into the spinal cord. With the aid of modern techniques, their surgical removal became much safer. The present study was undertaken to analyze the outcome of our series of surgically and conservatively treated patients with SCM. Over a period of 20 years, 20 surgically treated and 5 conservatively managed patients with spinal cavernous malformations were identified and enrolled into this analysis. Demographic data, clinical symptoms, localization and extension of the cavernoma, as well as pre- and postoperative neurological status were obtained. The clinical status was assessed using the Frankel score. Patients were followed up clinically and by MRI. Before surgery, 90 % (18/20) of our surgical patients were classified as Frankel D (93.8 %), whereas two patients (10 %) were graded C. None of the patients had a worse Frankel score at the time of discharge. Eighty percent of them (16 cases) remained unchanged, and 20 % (4 patients) improved during the first follow-up (mean 6.3 months, range 2–17 months). All improved patients had a superficially located SCM and were operated early (≤3 months). No worsening was observed during extended follow-up (range 9–134 months, mean 44.7 months). Five nonsurgically treated patients showed no significant clinical deterioration over a period of 6.7 years (mean, range 2.9–8 years). SCM localization and number of involved segments had no influence on outcome. Our data show that SCM can be resected with favorable neurological outcome by using intraoperative neuromonitoring. Within the follow-up period, patients treated conservatively remained in a stable neurological condition.