Surgical Management of Enneking Stage 3 Aggressive Vertebral Hemangiomas With Neurological Deficit by One-stage Posterior Total En Bloc Spondylectomy

In Brief Study Design. Clinical case series. Objective. The aim of this study was to describe the treatment of aggressive vertebral hemangiomas (VHs) with neurological deficit treated with total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) in a single institute. Summary of Background Data. Despite increasing utilization of surgery to treat aggressive VHs, owing to the rarity, the diagnosis and treatment protocols of aggressive VHs are still questionable and disputable. Methods. All patients with Enneking stage 3 aggressive thoracic or lumbar VHs with neurological deficit and treated with TES from January 2005 to January 2013 were included. Clinical characteristics and surgery outcomes of patients, including Tomita classification, operation time, blood loss, pre- and postoperative American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale, visual analogue score (VAS), and Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS), were retrospectively reviewed. Results. A total of 23 VHs patients were enrolled in this study, including 17 in the thoracic spine and six in the lumbar spine. All patients suffered neurological deficits caused by direct spinal cord compression with or without associated mechanical instability. The average SINS score was 9.78 ± 1.51. The mean operation time of patients with preoperative embolization was 426.6 ± 104.3 minutes and the mean blood loss was 1883.3 ± 932.1 mL. There were no technical difficulties or serious complications. After surgery, all patients recovered to ASIA-E levels. The VAS pain score decreased from 8.0 ± 0.9 to 2.8 ± 0.8 (P < .05). Conclusion. TES is a good treatment option for patients with aggressive VHs with bony destruction and neurological deficit. Level of Evidence: 4 Owing to the rarity, the diagnosis and treatment protocols of aggressive vertebral hemangiomas are still questionable and disputable. We report the outcomes of 23 S3 VH cases with neurological deficit treated with total en bloc spondylectomy. All patients recovered neurologic function and no recurrence was seen during follow-up period.