Treatment of Thoracic Meningioma with Spinal Canal Decompression under Spinal Endoscopy

Abstract

Extramedullary benign tumors of the spine may cause spinal cord compression. Patients may present with motor weakness and sensory loss in the extremities causing gait abnormalities. Surgical treatment is indicated when symptoms are no longer manageable. In this chapter, the authors present an 87-year-old female's case as an illustrative example of how the spinal endoscopy platform can be safely and effectively deployed in the treatment of such lesions. The example patient suffered from spinal cord compression from a large meningioma at the T7 level. The tumor was successfully removed via an endoscopic working cannula. The patient's symptoms improved, and a nine-month follow-up MRI scan showed adequate and maintained spinal cord decompression. This case example demonstrates that spinal endoscopy may be applied to an increasing number of surgical indications beyond the scope of degenerative disease. Further clinical investigation will need to show this technology's limits when treating benign tumors of the spine.