The aim of the study is to establish a multi-center, retrospective database for patients with intramedullary spinal cord metastases (ISCM) and analyse the functional outcome in surgically treated ISCM patients.
The hypothesis is that the surgical treatment of selected ISCM patients does not lead to persistent morbidity and does not increase mortality, compared to patients that are treated non-operatively.
Secondary objectives are to assess pre- to postoperative neurological deficits, ambulatory status, and overall survival of surgically treated ISCM patients.
The investigators intend to include a control cohort of patients with ISCM from participating centers, who underwent non-surgical oncological treatment (radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy). This control cohort of patients will be used to match patients with and without surgical treatment.
Primary endpoint (analysed in surgically treated ISCM patients):
Functional outcome at 90 days after treatment initiation, measured by the modified McCormick Scale. This is a score for grading of neurological function in spinal cord conditions.
The McCormick scale ranges from Grade I (neurologically intact) to grade V (paraplegic or quadriplegic). The McCormick scale is suitable for our retrospective study because of its good reproducibility and comparability.
Secondary endpoints (analysed in surgically treated ISCM patients and analysed in matched patients with and without surgical treatment):
* Functional outcome by the McCormick scale and the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale (mJOA) at 6 and 12 months. This is a score evaluating motor function of upper and lower extremities, sensory function of upper extremities and sphincter function / voidance. The mJOA ranges from 0 - 18 points, with higher score values representing better functional outcome. The minimum clinically important difference of the mJOA is 1-2 points, and scores lower than 14 indicate moderate myelopathy, scores lower than 11 indicate severe myelopathy. * Ambulatory status and continence at 90 days, 6 \& 12 months (determined by mJOA subscores) * Neurological outcome, measured by American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) * Impairment Scale at 90 days, 6 and 12 months * Rate \& type of complications at 90 days after treatment according to The Novel Therapy * Disability-Neurology Grade (TDN grade)16 * Overall survival (in days)
Adult patients admitted to one of the participating centres and treated for ISCM
Available documentation of admission and postoperative status
None
The study population consists of patients who have undergone treatment for ISCM at one of the participating hospitals in the period from 2017 to 2023. The study period is chosen, as electronic documentation is available at all hospitals in this time-period. Patients will be identified by generated lists from neurosurgery (microsurgical procedures for ISCM) and radiooncology (radiotherapy for ISCM).
Case-control
Retrospective
Microsurgical resection of ISCM
Procedure/SurgeryMicrosurgical resection of ISCM defines the surgical removal of cancerous tumors that have spread to the spinal cord, using advanced microsurgical techniques and equipment like ultrasound, neuromonitoring, ultrasonic aspirator to prevent damage to the spinal cord.
Functional outcome at 90 days after treatment initiation
measured by the modified McCormick Scale. This is a score for grading of neurological function in spinal cord conditions. The McCormick scale ranges from Grade I (neurologically intact) to grade V (paraplegic or quadriplegic). The McCormick scale is suitable for our retrospective study because of its good reproducibility and comparability.
Functional outcome
modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association Score (mJOA) Range 0-18, with lower scores indicate a more sever myelopathy
Neurological outcome
measured by American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) A: Complete. No sensory or motor function is preserved in sacral segments S4-S5, no sacral sparing B: Sensory Incomplete. Sensory but not motor function is preserved below the neurological level and includes sacral segments S4-S5, AND No motor function is preserved more than three levels below the motor level on either side of the body C: Motor Incomplete. Motor function is preserved below the neurological level AND More than half of the key muscle functions below the neurological level of injury have a muscle grade of less than 3 (Grades 0-2) D: Motor Incomplete. Motor function is preserved below the neurological level AND At least half (half or more) of the key muscle functions below the neurological level of injury have a muscle grade ≥ 3 E: Normal. If sensation and motor function are graded as normal in all segments AND the patient had prior SCI-related deficits
Rate & type of complications
Therapy-Disability-Neurology Grade (TDN Grade) Range: Grade 1-5 The Therapy-Disability-Neurology (TDN) grading system is a novel multidimensional classification of complications severity. higher Grades indicate higher severity of complication
Functional outcome
measured by the modified McCormick Scale. This is a score for grading of neurological function in spinal cord conditions. The McCormick scale ranges from Grade I (neurologically intact) to grade V (paraplegic or quadriplegic). The McCormick scale is suitable for our retrospective study because of its good reproducibility and comparability.
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Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen
Lead sponsor
University Hospital, Zürich
Collaborator
Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern
Collaborator
University Hospital, Geneva
Collaborator
Kantonsspital Aarau
Collaborator
Kantonsspital Winterthur KSW
Collaborator
Luzerner Kantonsspital
Collaborator
Klinikum rechts der Isar Technische Universität München
Collaborator
University Hospital Muenster
Collaborator
University of Toronto
Collaborator
Stanford University
Collaborator
