RESUMEN

Objective To explore the clinical diagnosis, micronenrosurgical approach and skills of cervical spinal cord tumors. Methods Clinical data of 32 cases with cervical spinal cord tumors who had received microneurosurgery from June 2003 to June 2005 were analyzed retrospectively. All the cases were confirmed through MRI examination and then underwent micronenrosurgical resection. Postoperative MRI examination was conducted on all patients. Results Under microscope, 29 cervical spinal cord lesions were totally removed, 3 lesions were subtotally removed which consisted of 2 cases of astrocytomas and 1 case of lipoma. No clinical deterioration or surgical mortality occurred in this series. Conclusions MRI is the most valuable for the diagnosis of the cervical spinal cord tumors and it can determine the possible type, location and adjacent relationship of the tumors, which is helpful for choosing the appropriate operative approaches. Microneurosurgery is the effective treatment for cervical spinal cord tumors. Skilled microneurosurgical techniques are the keys of success in the treatment.