Histomorphological Spectrum and Trend of Spinal Neoplastic Lesions: A Single Institutional 40-year review

Abstract

OBJECTIVES Spinal tumours are known to be much less common compared to brain neoplasms. In our setting, due to poor data gathering, underreporting and probably lack of presentation to medical facilities, studies on spinal tumours are sparse. Previous studies had reported extramedullary tumours to be more common in our environment. This study examines the histomorphological spectrum of spinal tumours in an African setting, comparing it with previous observations to determine changes over the decades. METHODS Data was obtained from the hospital records of patients over a forty-year period. These include the patients’ age, gender and histomorphological data of all the neoplastic spinal lesions. The data was analysed using SPSS 20 statistical software. RESULTS Ninety four cases were seen during the study period. The tumours were more common between the third to the sixth decades of life. There was a slight male preponderance with a male to female ratio of 1.2:1. Meningiomas were the commonest tumours seen during the study period which is in contrast to previous studies that had shown Burkitt lymphoma. The data also showed a steady rise in the number of cases during the study period suggesting an increase in patients’ presenting to the hospital and more surgical cases. CONCLUSION The index study showed a difference in patients demographics and the histological tumour types seen over the study period compared to the data from previous studies. This is probably due to better awareness and better diagnostic facilities.