title: Symptomatic epidural compression in infants with neuroblastoma: a single-center experience with 5 cases.
abstract: Infants affected by neuroblastoma with symptomatic epidural compression require early diagnosis and appropriate treatment to avoid severe late complications. However, no established guidelines are available regarding the optimal treatment of these patients. We describe 5 such infants. The interval between the onset of symptoms and tumor diagnosis was 3 to 8 days in 4/5 cases. None developed paraplegia before or after treatment. Treatment for epidural compression included first-line laminoplasty followed by chemotherapy in 3 patients, and chemotherapy first in the remaining 2. To date, all are alive and none have developed severe complications after a follow-up of 9 to 39 months (median, 20).
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Santobono-Pausilipon Children's Hospital, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Capasso
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cinalli
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nastro
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giuliano
authors.forename: Maria E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Errico
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Caccioppoli
authors.forename: Rossella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Turco
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruotolo
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vetrella
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Bernardi
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quaglietta
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy; D008297:Male; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery*