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Tumors of the Spine and Spinal Cord

Clinical and Radiological Features

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Clinical Neuroradiology

Abstract

The most common intradural spinal tumors are meningiomas and nerve sheath tumors in the intradural extramedullary compartment, whereas ependymomas and astrocytomas are the most common tumors of the spinal cord. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the state-of-the-art imaging modality for the diagnosis of intradural spinal tumors. Clinical data, such as patient age, symptoms, history, and laboratory findings, are helpful in the differential diagnosis, which includes infectious myelitis, autoimmune disorders (neuromyelitis optica, NMO), spinal neurosarcoidosis, and some vascular diseases (spinal cord ischemia, spinal dural arteriovenous fistula, sDAVF). The management of spinal cord tumors depends on the histopathological grade and clinical presentation. In this chapter, we review the clinical and radiological features of spinal cord tumors.

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Abbreviations

ADEM:

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

ATM:

Acute transverse myelitis

DTI:

Diffusion tensor imaging

DWI:

Diffusion-weighted imaging

FT:

Fiber tractography

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency syndrome

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

MS:

Multiple sclerosis

NMO:

Neuromyelitis optica

SCD:

Subacute combined degeneration

sDAVF:

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Neuroradiology and Musculoskeletal Radiology, Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, University Hospital Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Majda M. Thurnher

Authors
  1. Majda M. Thurnher
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Correspondence to Majda M. Thurnher .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Frederik Barkhof

  2. National Hosp.f Neurology & Neurosurgery, UCL National Hosp.f Neurology & Neurosurgery, London, UK

    Rolf Jager

  3. Division of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Vienna Division of Neuroradiology, Wien, Austria

    Majda Thurnher

  4. Department of Neuroradiology, Hospital Vall d’Hebrón Department of Neuroradiology, Barcelona, Spain

    Alex Rovira Cañellas

Section Editor information

  1. Neuroradiology Department, Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy

    Mario Muto

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Thurnher, M.M. (2019). Tumors of the Spine and Spinal Cord. In: Barkhof, F., Jager, R., Thurnher, M., Rovira Cañellas, A. (eds) Clinical Neuroradiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61423-6_41-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61423-6_41-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61423-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61423-6

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