Giuseppe D'Aliberti, Fabio Villa, Pietro Giorgi, Francesco M Crisà, Giulia Gribaudi, Lara Mastino, Anna M Auricchio, Marco Cenzato, Giuseppe Talamonti
{"title":"Giant calcified thoracic disk herniations: ossification of PLL or autonomous entity?","authors":"Giuseppe D'Aliberti, Fabio Villa, Pietro Giorgi, Francesco M Crisà, Giulia Gribaudi, Lara Mastino, Anna M Auricchio, Marco Cenzato, Giuseppe Talamonti","doi":"10.23736/S0390-5616.20.04938-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Giant calcified thoracic disk herniation (GCTD) is an uncommon event, which requires surgical treatment in less than 1% of patients. GCDTs are a specific subgroup of herniated thoracic disks occupying more than 40% of the spinal canal showing calcifications associated with a certain degree of ossification. In this paper, we are reporting our whole experience in the surgical management of GCTDs through anterior approaches. We believe that they present characteristics that associate them to the circumscribed type of ossified posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) with a possible common pathophysiology consisting in the dural violation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty-three consecutive patients with GCDTs were managed through anterior approaches during the period 1996-2019 at the Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy. Clinical data, radiological features, surgical reports, histological findings, and outcomes were reviewed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There was no mortality, whereas permanent morbidity consisted of 1 case of worsened paraparesis due to accidental spinal cord contusion. One patient required reoperation to repair a postoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage. All patients underwent postoperative MRI which showed excellent decompression of cord and dural sac in all cases. Histological study of en-bloc removed GCTD showed typical calcification patterns of the PLL.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>GCDTs may be assimilated to the so-called \"circumscribed type\" of OPLL. The GCDTs may show the same radiological CT and MRI pattern of OPLL. The anterior accesses now represent the standard of care for GCTDs. The use of operative microscope and intraoperative monitoring is mandatory. The risk of CSF leakage can be markedly reduced by meticulous reconstruction of the dura and the placement of spinal drainage. Adequate exposition may sometimes require one or two levels of corpectomy with consequent vertebral body reconstruction and fixation of anterior column of the spine.</p>","PeriodicalId":16504,"journal":{"name":"Journal of neurosurgical sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of neurosurgical sciences","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.23736/S0390-5616.20.04938-3","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2020/7/29 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Giant calcified thoracic disk herniation (GCTD) is an uncommon event, which requires surgical treatment in less than 1% of patients. GCDTs are a specific subgroup of herniated thoracic disks occupying more than 40% of the spinal canal showing calcifications associated with a certain degree of ossification. In this paper, we are reporting our whole experience in the surgical management of GCTDs through anterior approaches. We believe that they present characteristics that associate them to the circumscribed type of ossified posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) with a possible common pathophysiology consisting in the dural violation.
Methods: Twenty-three consecutive patients with GCDTs were managed through anterior approaches during the period 1996-2019 at the Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy. Clinical data, radiological features, surgical reports, histological findings, and outcomes were reviewed.
Results: There was no mortality, whereas permanent morbidity consisted of 1 case of worsened paraparesis due to accidental spinal cord contusion. One patient required reoperation to repair a postoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage. All patients underwent postoperative MRI which showed excellent decompression of cord and dural sac in all cases. Histological study of en-bloc removed GCTD showed typical calcification patterns of the PLL.
Conclusions: GCDTs may be assimilated to the so-called "circumscribed type" of OPLL. The GCDTs may show the same radiological CT and MRI pattern of OPLL. The anterior accesses now represent the standard of care for GCTDs. The use of operative microscope and intraoperative monitoring is mandatory. The risk of CSF leakage can be markedly reduced by meticulous reconstruction of the dura and the placement of spinal drainage. Adequate exposition may sometimes require one or two levels of corpectomy with consequent vertebral body reconstruction and fixation of anterior column of the spine.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences publishes scientific papers on neurosurgery and related subjects (electroencephalography, neurophysiology, neurochemistry, neuropathology, stereotaxy, neuroanatomy, neuroradiology, etc.). Manuscripts may be submitted in the form of ditorials, original articles, review articles, special articles, letters to the Editor and guidelines. The journal aims to provide its readers with papers of the highest quality and impact through a process of careful peer review and editorial work.