Primary extra-skeletal Ewing's sarcoma presenting as an epidural Soft Tissue Lesion causing cauda equina syndrome in an adolescent girl: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Primary epidural Ewing's sarcoma in the lumbar spinal canal is a rare condition and very few cases are reported in the literature. CASE REPORT: A fifteen-year-old girl presented with low backache associated with sudden onset of weakness and radiculopathy of both lower limbs for 10 days, bowel and bladder involvement for 3 days. Physical examination revealed grade 0/5 power and absent sensations below L4 dermatomal level and perianal region (ASIA A). Plantar reflex was mute bilaterally. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an extradural lesion within the spinal canal at the L3-L4 level. The patient underwent an emergency posterior decompression, extradural lesion excision and instrumented stabilization L3-L5. Based on histopathological examination of the tissue specimen, we diagnosed the lesion as Ewing sarcoma. DISCUSSION: Primary extra-skeletal Ewing's sarcoma presenting as an epidural lesion in the lumbar spine is a rare clinical entity that should be considered as a differential for spinal epidural lesions. Treatment for such cases is almost always an early surgical intervention due to its rapid onset and compressive neurological symptoms. Wide decompression with instrumented fusion and excision of the lesion followed by chemo and radiotherapy are recommended.

Innovative Use of Posterior Vertebral Wall Impactor in Tibial Plateau Depressed Fractures.

Depressed articular fractures of tibial plateau are treated by elevation of the fracture fragments to maintain the articular congruity and filling the void with any bone substitutes, followed by screw or plate fixation. This elevation of the fragments to maintain articular congruity poses a surgical challenge even in experienced hands. Many techniques have been described for the same, as the use of the metallic-bone-tamps, elevators and more recently inflatable-balloon-tamps. But due to the lesser cross-section area, these often led to comminution of the fragile articular bone fragments. The inflatable-balloon-tamp caused extrusion of contrast-dye or unintentional posterior-wall displacement. We treated a series of 25 patients with tibial plateau depressed fractures by a novel technique using posterior-vertebral-body-wall-impactor. This helped in a uniform dissipation of force over a large cross-sectional area under the fracture fragment, leading to minimal comminution of the depressed fragment, maintaining the articular congruency. Rest of the fixation was done in the standard manner. There were no intra-operative or post-operative complications. All patients had good knee function according to Rasmussen Knee Function Grading System and achieved radiological union of fracture at follow-up (with a range of 12-18 months). Hence, this technique may be a safer and effective alternative for the elevation of depressed articular fractures of tibia.

Thoracolumbar fracture dislocation (AO type C injury): A systematic review of surgical reduction techniques.

Spinal injuries constitute about 3% of all injury cases and most of these injuries affect the thoracolumbar region, but thoracolumbar fracture-dislocations are much rarer. Dislocations (AO Type C injuries) of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, with or without associated fractures, happen due to very high energy trauma involving simultaneous, multidirectional, distractive and compressive forces across various spinal elements, which results in translational and rotational instability of the spinal column. Various reduction maneuvers have been described for thoracolumbar fracture-dislocations in the literature aiming to provide standardization in surgery for this situation. The aim of this review article is to systematically review the literature till date and describe various reduction maneuvers which help to achieve adequate sagittal and coronal balance as well as vertebral alignment with minimal soft tissue trauma. We searched the PubMed, the Cochrane Library (the most recent issue), Scopus, Cochrane Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialised Register, Web of Science, International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO), ClinicalTrials.gov and Google Scholar databases, besides other sources and general internet search. The strategy used in the search was briefly(''thoracolumbar'' OR ''dorsolumbar'') AND "dislocation" in PubMed. Similar searches were made in the other databases.Reference lists of the relevant papers were also examined and any further relevant studies, which were also included in the review. The initial search revealed 332 papers in Pubmed, out of which 302 were human studies. A similar search on Scopus revealed 528 documents and on WoS revealed 289 papers. Searching the Cochrane library revealed 9 trials, which were already revealed in Pubmed search results. All the references were imported into Endnote and we had 632 references after excluding duplicates and 126 papers were left in endnote after manual title screening and duplicate removal. Finally, 70 relevant papers were selected for consideration based on inclusion criteria, after excluding unrelated papers manually. We have summarised the published literature on the surgical management of thoraco-lumbar fracture dislocations and described the reduction maneuvers used in detail.

Report of isolated epidural extra-nodal Rosai-Dorfman disease of cervicothoracic spine.

INTRODUCTION: Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) or sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy is a nonneoplastic lymphoproliferative disorder which commonly presents with painless massive cervical lymphadenopathy along with fever and weight loss. Isolated extra-nodal disease involvement, especially isolated central nervous system disease without lymph node involvement is rare. CASE PRESENTATION: A 35-year-old man presented with upper back pain and paraparesis of 2 months duration. Contrast-MRI revealed an enhancing epidural mass lesion from C6-T7 suggestive of a primary epidural spinal-cord tumor. The lesion was resected and posterolateral fusion C6-T8 was performed. Histopathological examination revealed an isolated extra-nodal case of RDD. He was started on chemotherapy after the healing of surgical site in 2 weeks post operatively. Complete resolution of neurological deficits with significant improvement in gait was seen at the last follow-up 2 years after surgery. Repeat MRI revealed complete resolution of the disease. DISCUSSION: RDD with spinal involvement is rare and it is often a challenge to arrive at the correct diagnosis. Histopathological characteristics and immunohistochemical findings are necessary for diagnosis. Resection of the lesion takes compression off the cord and therefore, is the primary line of management of this disease. Our case presentation serves as a reference when diagnosing and managing a patient of RDD.

Flipped Reposition Laminoplasty for Excision of Intradural Extramedullary Tumors in the Thoracolumbar Spine: A Case Series of 14 Patients.

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective study was done to assess the outcome of the new technique of flipped reposition laminoplasty for excision of intradural extramedullary (IDEM) spinal tumors of the thoracolumbar region. PURPOSE: To describe flipped reposition laminoplasty technique and evaluate its outcomes. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Laminectomy has been the conventional approach for the surgical excision of IDEM spinal tumors, but it has potential postoperative complications. Laminoplasty maintains the posterior arch of the spine and avoids complications seen in Laminectomy, such as instability, epidural scarring, and kyphotic deformity. METHODS: Fourteen patients (nine females and five males) diagnosed with IDEM tumors of the thoracolumbar region operated between 2016 and 2018 were included in this study. Pathologically, five cases were schwannomas; four cases were meningiomas; two cases were ependymomas; and one case each was lymphoma, neurofibroma, and teratoma. All patients had their neurological deficits documented using the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale. After completion of all preanesthetic formalities, the patients were operated upon by a single surgeon using the flipped reposition laminoplasty technique. Follow-up was done at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post operation and yearly thereafter. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 35.28 years (14-65 years), and the mean follow-up duration was 17 months (6-26 months). Two patients were assessed with ASIA grade A neurology, one patient improved to ASIA grade B, whereas the other did not improve. Two patients improved from ASIA grade B to ASIA grade D, and seven patients with ASIA grades C and D improved to ASIA grade E. Fusion at the osteotomy site was seen in 92.85% (13 out of 14) cases on one side within 6 months post operation. Fusion was seen in all the cases within 1 year post operation. CONCLUSIONS: Flipped reposition laminoplasty is an excellent technique providing adequate exposure and additional stability postoperatively.