title: Surgical results after unilateral laminectomy for the removal of spinal cord tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To reduce the risk of postoperative spinal instability or deformity, unilateral laminectomy (UL) has been recommended to remove spinal space-occupying lesions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were any advantages of UL for removal of spinal cord tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  From May 1995 to May 2010, 94 patients with spinal cord tumors, who underwent tumor removal via UL in our institute, were enrolled in this study. Intramedullary spinal cord tumors were excluded. Simple radiographs were obtained for accessing the restoration of the spinal column. Spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was also obtained during the follow-up period to evaluate tumor recurrence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 51 women and 43 men; their mean age was 47.8 years (range, 9-83 years). The mean follow-up period was 52.6 months (range, 24 month-16 years). The sites of the tumors were cervical in 21 cases, thoracic in 37, lumbar in 33, and sacral in 3. These cases included 85 intradural extramedullary (IDEM) and 9 extradural (ED) lesions. IDEM tumors consisted mainly of neurilemmomas (56.3%) and meningiomas (22.3%).Tumors were totally removed in 80 cases and subtotally removed in 14 cases. Postoperative neurological status was improved in 53 cases, unchanged in 31 cases, and worsened in 10 cases. During follow-up, MRI showed tumor recurrence in 4 patients. Histopathologically, three cases were meningiomas and one case was neurilemmoma. None of the patients showed spinal instability or kyphotic deformity at last follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  UL is an optimal approach for providing sufficient exposure of spinal cord tumors without development of postoperative spinal instability and regional sagittal imbalance in any location of spinal column. In cases of meningioma, careful long-term follow up is needed due to it's relatively high recurrence rate after removal via UL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University School of Medicine & Hospital Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Heon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University School of Medicine & Hospital Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University School of Medicine & Hospital Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University School of Medicine & Hospital Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung-Sik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University School of Medicine & Hospital Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Kil
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University School of Medicine & Hospital Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Spinal cord tumors; Surgical result; Unilateral laminectomy