Author(s)

Nassourou Oumarou Haman^1,2,3, Figuim Bello^1,4, Orlane Ndome Toto^5,6, Roland Ndouh Nchufor⁷, Nya Durand Bakop¹, Ronaldo Foalou Anu¹, Vincent de Paul Djientcheu^1,2

¹Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon.
²Neurosurgery Department, Yaounde General Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroon.
³Cameroon Academy of Young Scientists, Yaounde, Cameroon.
⁴Department of Neurosurgery, Garoua General Hospital, Garoua, Cameroon.
⁵Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon.
⁶Department of Neurosurgery, Douala General Hospital, Douala, Cameroon.
⁷Facuty of Health Sciences, University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon.

Introduction: Metastatic spinal tumors (MST) refer to secondary involvement of the vertebral column by hematogenously-disseminated metastatic cells. They could affect either the bony structures or the spinal cords. Mechanical instability and neurologic deficits resulting from spinal cord compression are the most common manifestations. Surgical intervention remains the most effective treatment for about 20% of patients who present with spinal cord compression. The prognosis is relatively poor. This work has as objectives to describe: the diagnostic tools, the different modalities of management and the prognostic elements of spine metastasis. Methodology: We conducted an ambispective cross-sectional descriptive study; with retrospective data collection from January 2015 to December 2021 and prospective collection from January to April 2022 in the “Neurosurgery” unit of the Yaounde Central Hospital and the “Oncology and Neurosurgery” units of Yaounde General Hospital. Result: We included 101 patients. The M/F sex ratio was 1.66. The average age of the participants was 56.44 years (±14.19 SD) with a median of 58 years. Metastatic spinal tumors were discovered in 61.39% of patients with a previously known primary tumor and 21.78% of patients had newly discovered tumors. The neurologic examination revealed a vertebral syndrome in 79.21% of cases, radicular syndrome in 60.40% and sub-lesional syndrome in 59.89%. Sensory disorders accounted for 39.60% and sphincter disorders accounted for 34.65%. According to the degree of severity, the lesions were classified as Frankel E (37.62%) followed by Frankel D (21.78%). Metastatic lesions were mostly found at the thoracic vertebrae (68.25%) and lumbar vertebrae (22.22%). The most represented primary tumors were: prostate tumors (41.58%) and breast tumors (23.76%); followed by malignant hemopathies (15.84%). Computed-tomography scan (CT-scan) was the most frequent diagnostic imaging technique used (71.28%). Analgesic treatment mostly involved level II analgesia (64.36%). High dose steroid therapy (greater than 80mg/24h) was used in more than half of the patients. Radiation therapy was performed in 24.75% of the patients, chemotherapy in 55.44% and specific surgical interventions performed in 20.79%. The most frequent surgical indication was complete motor deficit according to the Frankel classification (47.21%). One patient in four (23.76%) experienced improvement in functional prognosis with increased muscle strength after a period of 2 weeks to 5 months of treatment. About 1 in 10 patients (8.8%) rather had worsening of their neurologic status. We observed that there was a correlation between spine surgery and improvement in muscle strength (P-value less than 0.05). Patients (12) who had better recovery or preserved gait were those with partial compression (P-value = 0.0143). Four out of five patients (81.18%) of our series had an estimated survival of less than one year according to the Tokuhashi score. Conclusion: MSTs are frequent in our context. Most patients sought consultation late after the first symptoms appeared (principally back pain). The clinical examination revealed a high proportion of patients with spinal cord compression syndrome. Medical treatment was first-line for the management of pain and most patients who underwent surgical treatment had complete neurologic deficits. The functional prognosis was found to be improved by surgery and the vital prognosis depended on the Tokuhashi score, with better accuracy when the prediction is more than 12 months.

Metastases, Spinal Tumors, Diagnosis, Prognosis, Spinal Cord Compression

Haman, N. , Bello, F. , Toto, O. , Nchufor, R. , Bakop, N. , Anu, R. and Djientcheu, V. (2024) Metastatic Spinal Tumors: Diagnostic Methods, Management and Prognosis at the Yaounde Central Hospital and Yaounde General Hospital. Open Journal of Modern Neurosurgery, 14, 158-169. doi: 10.4236/ojmn.2024.142017.