Spinal cord compression in neuroblastoma

Twelve of 80 patients suffering from neuroblastoma who were treated during a 21-year period had intraspinal involvement. Mediastinal tumors have a greater tendency to extend to the spinal canal; however, distant spread of the tumor is rare in patients presenting with intraspinal extension. Patients with intraspinal extension also survive longer than those without. Other factors affecting survival are age, stage of disease, duration of neurological symptoms, degree of histologic differentiation, and mode of therapy. In the absence of osseous metastasis, total excision of the primary lesion and its intraspinal components is usually followed by a favorable outcome; residual neurological deficits among survivors, however, are relatively common.