Clinical Neuropsychology: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Introduction & Aim: Ependymomas are neuroepithelial tumors of variable morphological appearance whose treatment of choice is surgical. They represent 13% of intraspinal tumors and constitute 40% of spinal tumors in adults. In Cuba there are few studies about this pathology, hence the main objective is to evaluate the behavior of intraspinal ependymomas in the Neurology and Neurosurgery Institute. Patients & Methods: A retrospective descriptive study of 47 patients operated on with a histological diagnosis of intraspinal ependymomas in a period of 22 years was carried out. Results: In the patients studied, 51% started with a radicular syndrome. In ependymomas, the most frequent histology was myxopapillary (34%) and the terminal filum was the location that prevailed (48.9%). A total resection was achieved in 51.1%, postoperative complications were not frequent, being the cerebrospinal fluid fistula (19.1%) the most frequent. Half of the subjects evolved favorably. 40.4% of the intraspinal ependymomas studied were from intracranial tumors and of these 73.7% recurred. Primary spinal tumors did not disseminate in 92.9% of cases. Conclusion: Intraspinal ependymomas may be primary of the spine or disseminations/metastases of other locations of the neuraxis. The disseminations do not depend on the degree or histological type. Spinal ependymomas have a high rate of tumor recurrence. The adequate postoperative functional recovery depends on an early diagnosis of intratracheal ependymomas and the degree of surgical resection.

Biography

Elixena Lopez Savon has graduated as a Doctor in June 2006 and started working in Primary Care in rural areas of her country, in 2008. She has worked in Bolivia as an Intensivist Doctor in the town of Villa Tunari. Later she received a master’s degree in Emergency and Medical Emergencies and started the specialty of Neurosurgery in 2015. She started working as a Neurosurgeon in the Pediatric Hospital "Juan Manuel Márquez" in Havana city. She had a certified course on Spinal Surgery, Carotid Doppler, Trans-Fontanel Ultrasound. She also had an Interventional Imaging Research course. She is a Member of AOSPINE since 2013 and she has participated in five congresses held in Havana.

E-mail: elixena@infomed.sld.cu