[Lateral interscalenic approach for tumors of the cervical intervertebral foramina (author's transl)]

The authors report six cases of tumours limited to the cervical inter-vertebral foramen. The patients presented with cervico-brachial neuralgias occasionally accompanied by radicular sensitivo-motor impairment. Radiographs and tomographs of the cervical spine demonstrated enlargement of the intervertebral foramen with bone proliferation depending on the etiology and provided in easy diagnosis in all the cases. A myelogram showed the absence of extension into the spinal canal thus allowing distinction from the group of dumbell tumors. In the six cases vertebral angiography gave information regarding the vascularisation and relationships of the tumour. The histological diagnosis was different in each case : neurofibroma, chordoma, osteochondroma, osteoma, osteoblastoma and an aneurysmal bone cyst. The same surgical approach was used in the six cases. Neither a laminectomy with facettectomy, nor a classical antero-lateral approach allow for a satisfactory exposition of the tumor. On the contrary a lateral interscalenic approach including dissection of the brachial plexus lead to a trouble free excision. This approach was precised by anatomical dissections.