Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0729233 (Thoracic)
 6,478 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 63 year old male complained of persistent backache and productive cough. The chest X-ray revealed the fungus ball at the left apical-posterior segment and Aspergillus fumigatus was cultured from the sputum. He was treated on fulconazole and miconazole. Six months later, motor and sensory paralysis below the mamillary level and urinary and stool incontinence developed. A magnetic resonance image disclosed the destruction of the second thoracic spinal vertebra involved by the cavitated fungus ball of the left lung. Continuous peroral administration of antifungal drugs was not successful, and he expired with severe dyspnea. The autopsy revealed an extensive granulomatous and purulent change of the epidural and subdural spaces of the second to fifth thoracic spinal cord. Subdural inflammation extended to the lower thoracic and lower cervical level. Thoracic spinal cord revealed an extensive myelomalacia predominantly involving the left lateral white column, and also anterior and posterior columns. Small areas of the white matter were cystic. The left anterior horn cells revealed severe central chromatolysis. Moderate lymphocytic and plasma cell infiltration was found around the vessels within the cord. A few thrombi were found in the vein near the anterior nerve root. Central nervous system involvement of pulmonary aspergillosis is quite uncommon. However, there are a few reports of patients with paraplegia secondary to the spinal extension by aspergillus infection. Sheth et al. described that epidural and subdural granulomatous change with aspergillus abscesses and spinal cord myelomalacia is comparable to metastatic carcinoma. However, the aspergillus infection in the spinal cord is more extensive and destructive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:[Aspergillosis involving the thoracic spinal cord--an autopsy case]. 129 15

A 44-year-old woman presented with a thoracic chordoma with intrathoracic extension manifesting as complaints of lower extremity weakness, hypesthesia below the levels of T5-6, and sphincter incontinence. Almost total resection combined with anterior interbody fusion and stabilization was possible through a left transpleural transthoracic approach. She suffered recurrence after 2 years and was considered inoperable. Biopsy revealed a malignant chordoma with no sarcomatous differentiation. Chordoma is an uncommon malignant bone tumor originating from remnants of the embryonal notochord, occurring mostly along the axial skeleton, at the extremity of the vertebral spine, and is least common in the thoracic region. Differential diagnosis is problematic and biopsy is helpful particularly if considered inoperable. Thoracic chordomas of the malignant type manifest as cord or root compression. Classical malignant chordomas must be distinguished from chondroid, benign, or other types of chordomas, since the biological behavior and clinical features are distinct. However, the differential diagnosis cannot be based on histological examination, but long-term follow up is required. Most patients have extradural and intraspinal tissue extension at the time of diagnosis, which makes complete resection impossible. Aggressive surgery without violation of surgical borders is the best choice in the treatment of thoracic chordoma. Thoracic chordoma is a recurring neoplasm and is prone to dissemination and sarcomatous differentiation despite its slow-growing nature.
 ...
PMID:Chordoma of the thoracic spine--case report. 1201 71

Although radical resection is the best treatment for local aggressive benign tumors or malignant tumors of the spine, total spondylectomy for lower thoracic vertebrae may cause anterior spinal artery syndrome. There are few reports in the literature in which this syndrome has been documented in association with thoracic spondylectomy, although this syndrome is the most common neurologic complication after abdominal aortic surgery. A 50-year-old woman with a giant cell tumor of the thoracic vertebrae was treated by posterior and anterior surgery. Thoracic segmental arteries from T10 to T12 had to be resected bilaterally to dissect the aorta free from the tumor. After resection of all feeding arteries to the tumor, the tumor and entire parts of T10, T11, and T12 were removed. Postoperative neurologic examination disclosed flaccid paralysis of the lower extremities and sphincter incontinence. Although pain and temperature sensation were absent, vibration and position sense were intact, showing anterior spinal artery syndrome. Intraoperative somatosensory-evoked potential monitoring only showed that transient deterioration failed to adequately reflect this neurologic injury. Major reconstructive surgery involving lower thoracic regions may cause anterior spinal artery syndrome. Somatosensory-evoked potential monitoring might not reliably predict overall neurologic outcome involving the blood supply of the lower thoracic regions.
 ...
PMID:Anterior spinal artery syndrome after total spondylectomy of T10, T11, and T12. 1246 71