title: Fusion after intradural spine tumor resection in adults: A review of evidence and practices.
abstract: There is ample evidence supporting concomitant fusion after intradural spinal tumor resection in select pediatric patients. Unfortunately, the data are scarcer in adults. The objective of this work is to review the published literature and analyze practice patterns for stabilization and fusion after intradural tumor resection in adults. We performed a literature review via PubMed for information available regarding fusion in adults with intradural spine tumors. Additionally, we manually searched the references of selected articles to add relevant articles. Finally, we retrieved the criteria for fusion (if any) in the selected studies. A total of 639 articles were found and 35 were finally selected for analysis. Of those, three were literature reviews and 32 were retrospective case series. There were a total of 1288 patients on the series with 104 of them requiring fusion (8.1%). The median follow up of all the series was 24 months (range 1.5-180).The criteria for fusion that were common in most cases series were: previous deformity (i.e. kyphosis in the cervical spine), 3 or more levels of laminectomy, laminectomy encompassing a spinal junction, "young adults" (33 ± 4.2 years), facetectomy ≥ 50% (unilateral or bilateral), persistence of deformity after 1 year of the surgery and, C2 laminectomy. There appears to be some consistent practices for fusion after intradural tumor resection in adults, but this is based on retrospective analyses of case series. Prospective or randomized trials will likely provide more evidence based support for this practice.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of Arizona, 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Room 4303, Tucson, AZ 85724-5070, USA. Electronic address: avila.mao@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mauricio J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Avila
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of Arizona, 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Room 4303, Tucson, AZ 85724-5070, USA.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of Arizona, 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Room 4303, Tucson, AZ 85724-5070, USA.
authors.forename: Jesse
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skoch
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of Arizona, 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Room 4303, Tucson, AZ 85724-5070, USA.
authors.forename: Salman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbasifard
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of Arizona, 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Room 4303, Tucson, AZ 85724-5070, USA.
authors.forename: Apar S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of Arizona, 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Room 4303, Tucson, AZ 85724-5070, USA.
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sattarov
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of Arizona, 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Room 4303, Tucson, AZ 85724-5070, USA.
authors.forename: Ali A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Baaj
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D006801:Humans; D016268:Internal Fixators; D007796:Laminectomy / Q000379:methods*; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000601:surgery; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Adults; Fusion; Internal fixators; Spinal cord neoplasm; Spinal neoplasm