Neuroimaging of spine tumors.

ABSTRACT

Intramedullary, intradural/extramedullary, and extradural spine tumors comprise a wide range of neoplasms with an even wider range of clinical symptoms and prognostic features. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), commonly used to evaluate the spine in patients presenting with pain, can further characterize lesions that may be encountered on other imaging studies, such as bone scintigraphy or computed tomography (CT). The advantage of the MRI is its multiplane capabilities, superior contrast agent resolution, and flexible protocols that play an important role in assessing tumor location, extent in directing biopsy, in planning proper therapy, and in evaluating therapeutic results. A multimodality approach can be used to fully characterize the lesion and the combination of information obtained from the different modalities usually narrows the diagnostic possibilities significantly. The diagnosis of spinal tumors is based on patient age, topographic features of the tumor, and lesion pattern, as seen at CT and MRI. The shift to high-end imaging incorporating diffusion-weighted imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, whole-body short tau inversion recovery, positron emission tomography, intraoperative and high-field MRI as part of the mainstream clinical imaging protocol has provided neurologists, neuro-oncologists, and neurosurgeons a window of opportunity to assess the biologic behavior of spine neoplasms. This chapter reviews neuroimaging of spine tumors, primary and secondary, discussing routine and newer modalities that can reduce the significant morbidity associated with these neoplasms.