ABSTRACT
STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify the clinical factors for differentiating malignant from benign intramedullary spinal cord tumors. SETTING: Niigata, Japan. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of charts and images. Preoperative paralysis including walking ability, urinary function, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and pathological diagnosis were evaluated in 33 consecutive cases of intramedullary spinal cord tumor, and the clinical factors that were useful for differentiating malignant from benign tumors were identified. RESULTS: Early progression of paralysis was the most valuable feature for differentiating malignant from benign tumors. Malignant tumors were suspected in only three of ten cases on the basis of MRI findings. CONCLUSION: Simple assessment of walking ability is easy to perform and is useful for predicting the pathological malignancy of intramedullary tumors of the spinal cord.