Showing posts with label wockhardt hospitals blogging guidelines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wockhardt hospitals blogging guidelines. Show all posts

Spinal Cord Tumor: Symptoms and Treatements

Friday, July 24, 2009

In general tumour is an abnormal mass of tissue due to abnormal division and growth of cells. Tumour does not connote cancer. Spinal cord is the continuation of the brainstem downwards from the junction of the head and neck down to the lower back.

Spinal cord can be compressed by lesions/tumours that arise from the covering layers (dura/arachnoid) or by tumours within spinal cord per se.

Based on the location spinal cord tumors are generally called
  1. Extradural (outside the dura)-they constitute about 80% of tumours
  2. Intradural Extramedullary (inside the dura but outside the cord)-this group amounts to about 15%
  3. Intramedullary (from within the spinal cord) accounts for the remaining 5%
The occurrence of spinal cord tumors is generally rare and it can leave a patient with neurological damage resulting in physical disabilities due to the pressure exerted by the tumour on the spinal cord. Early diagnosis and effective treatment is the key to the successful treatment and recovery without physical disability.

Symptoms of Spinal Cord Tumor

The Symptoms of Spinal cord Tumour depends on the type of tumor and its location. In almost all kinds of tumor ,pain is a common early feature that often precedes the onset of any neurological disturbance. Some of the common symptoms include: Pain in the back of neck and radiating to upper limbs or pain radiating around chest wall.
  1. Forward or backward neck movement causing ‘electric shock’ or tingling radiating down through the body to the extremities.
  2. Loss or disturbance of sensation to touch/pain/heat in the upper/lower extremities or trunk.
  3. Lower back pain ,shooting pain that runs down the legs
  4. Distinct muscular weakness causing falls/limp due to weakness in legs or difficulty in writing/doing work that involves fine movements of hand/fingers.
  5. In the advanced stage the bladder and the bowel functions will be affected.
Causes of Spinal Cord Tumor

The exact cause of Spinal cord Tumour is still a subject of discussion. Many researches have attributed the cause to genetic factors.In developmental/congenital disorders it is observed that tumours generally develop from the arachnoid layer of the spinal cord or the supporting glial (non-neuronal cells that provide support and nutrition) cells.

Diagnosis of Spinal Cord Tumor

The Diagnosis consists of an evaluation of the symptoms followed by a through neurological examination and then imaging by MRI/CT of the affected part based on clinical localization. However whole spine screening image has to be done if multiple lesions noted or skip lesions suspected.

Treatments in Spinal Cord Tumor

The Treatment of spinal cord tumors is far more effective when the tumor is diagnosed early. The treatment varies on the type of tumor, the location and the extent of involvement but most require surgical Excision. All spinal cord surgeries need to be done with intra operative spinal cord monitoring.

Spinal tumors that are not intramedullary can be removed completely with excellent recovery.
Intramedullary tumors may require radiation/chemotherapy after surgical excision depending on the grade of the tumor.

Getting treated early is the key

Early diagnosis and surgical intervention prevents irreversible spinal cord damage due to chronic pressure and hastens neurological recovery, minimizes physical disability. Newer techniques are in the offing including stereotactic radiations but these are still in its infancy.


Dr. Deshpande.V. Rajakumar, M.CH,
Consultant Neurosurgeon,
Wockhardt Hospitals,Bangalore

For Appointments and Consultations with our Brain and Spine Doctors ,please email

Posted by Wockhardt Hospitals at 2:47 AM 0 comments  

Labels: , , , , ,

Guidelines for Posting Comments at Our Blog

Thursday, July 2, 2009

We welcome patients,users and caregivers to follow is in various social media websites including facebook/Myspace/Youtube/Ning/Healthchapter and Twitter.

You are welcome to comment us at our present official blog along with our wordpress blog

Our blog attempts to provide a platform for our patients,users,caregiversand healthcare community in general and to decimate and provide information about our Hospitals including clinical breakthroughs ,medical information and patient education .

While we welcome our users to comment at our blogs, we would request you to follow the below guidelines while commenting. By following these comment guidelines for our Blog and other social media platforms,you should be able to get your voice heard without any moderation.

1) Please Do no ask questions about individuals or comment about something that have already been addressed and our official position been clearly stated.In case you wish to inquire about something email us at enquiries@wockhardthospitals.net

2)Our Blog's objective is to decimate information regarding our Clinical Specialties,Medical Breakthroughs ,Healthcare Guides ,Patient education series and to provide our healthcare community a platform to share ,create and syndicate information

3)People whose comments have already been posted once and their point of view heard, please remember to give others a chance.

4)Keep your comments brief,see if someone else has already asked the same question. Please desist from commenting something which others have already stated.

5)Anyone wishing to clarify anything about a specific patient or discuss any specific medical cases are welcome to meet us in person and follow our standard protocol for redressal.

6)There is ONLY ONE OFFICIAL spokesman for the Hospital. No other blogger represent Wockhardt Hospitals official view apart from our official Blog.

7)Finally while we will certainly agree to disagree,we expect a certain level of civility when two individuals talk.Please keep this in mind while commenting at our blog.We review comments before they’re posted, and those that are off-topic or personal allegation against an individual without checking facts generally won’t make the cut. We also expect a basic level of civility; disagreements are fine, but mutual respect is a must, and profanity or abusive language are out-of-bounds.

8) While we cannot answer to each and every post due to obvious limitations,You are welcome to send us your point of view or anything you would want us to know to enquiries@wockhardthospitals.net

Posted by Wockhardt Hospitals at 2:53 AM 0 comments  

Labels: , ,

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

AddThis

Bookmark and Share