[Clinical study of spinal cord compression due to metastatic epidural tumors]

Eleven patients with spinal cord compression due to metastatic epidural tumors were analyzed. Primary tumors were Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma (two patients each), cervical cancer, malignant melanoma, gastric cancer, lung cancer, and neuroblastoma (one patient each). It was felt that myelography is the most important diagnostic test, although CT scan and bone scan may give further diagnostic information in some patients. Six patients were treated with decompressive laminectomy and postoperative radiotherapy, and five with radiotherapy alone. Regardless of the pretreatment neurological status and the type of treatment given, the functional prognosis in our small series of patients appeared to be favorable for radiosensitive tumors such as malignant lymphoma and multiple myeloma.