Description
The presentation focuses on oncology spine emergencies, specifically dealing with acute neurological deficits related to spinal metastasis. The speaker, Jean-Christophe Murray, introduces a clinical case of a 69-year-old male patient, an active smoker, who experienced generalized neck pain for three months and presented with acute paralysis indicating vertebral involvement due to a large C6-C7 lytic lesion accompanied by spinal cord compression. Murray outlines the challenges faced in diagnosing such conditions when encountering patients without a previous cancer history, emphasizing the necessity of obtaining tissue diagnoses before surgical intervention. The talk also evaluates the use of corticosteroids (dex) for reducing edema in the spinal cord and tumor size, particularly in patients with myeloma or lymphoma. It concludes by stressing the importance of thorough workups, timely biopsies, and appropriate patient selection for surgery, highlighting that some patients can still lead independent lives post-operation if managed correctly.
DOI: 10.1302/3114-210291