Prevalence of Primary Spinal Tumors: 15-Year Data from Siriraj Hospital
Sirichai Wilartratsami MD**, Sorranart Muangsomboon MD*, Suchard Benjarassameroj MD*, Rapin Phimolsarnti MD**, Cholavej Chavasiri MD**, Panya Luksanapruksa MD**
Affiliation : * Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand ** Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Objective : To determine prevalence, demographic data and clinical presentation of primary vertebral tumors.
Material and Method: A retrospective study of the primary spine tumor specimens from Siriraj bone tumor registry from
1996 to 2010.
Results : From the study, primary spinal tumors constituted 85 of 1,679 bone tumor cases (5.06%). The common benign
spinal tumors were giant cell tumor and hemangioma. The common malignant spinal tumors were chordoma, chondrosarcoma,
and osteosarcoma. The mean age of presentation was 44.68 years. Fifty-three percent of tumors occurred in females. Pain
was the most common presenting symptom, occurring in 73.53% of malignant and 52.94% of benign tumors. Neurological
involvement occurred in 25% of malignant tumor. Malignant lesions predominated in the sacral region while the most
common location of benign specimens was thoracic region.
Conclusion : The present study was the first demographic study of primary spinal tumor in Thai showed variety of prevalence
when compared with similar studies based on Western patients. Whether these results reflect differences in the population,
race and data collection method.
Keywords : Primary spinal tumor, Vertebral tumor, Prevalence, Bone tumor, Thai
