Epidemiology of Surgically Treated Spinal Tumors: A Multicenter Surveillance Study of 9686 Patients from the German Spine Registry (DWG Register)

Abstract

Background

Tumors of the spine are challenging in terms of diagnoses and interdisciplinary treatment. This study was conducted to evaluate and characterize a large multicenter cohort of surgically treated spine tumor patients.

Material and Methods

Data of the German Spine Society (DWG) were used to characterize a cohort of all surgically treated spine tumor cases that were registered between 2017 and 2021. Subgroup analysis was performed for tumor entity, tumor localization, height of most severely affected segments, surgical treatment, and demographic parameters.

Results

In total, there were 9686 cases, of which 6747 were “malignant”, 1942 were “primary benign”, 180 were “tumor-like lesions”, and 488 were “other” spinal tumors. Subgroups showed differences in number of affected segments as well as localization. There were further significant differences in surgical complication rates (p = 0.003), age (p < 0.001), morbidity (p < 0.001), and duration of surgery (p = 0.004).

Conclusion

This is a representative study on spinal tumors from a large spine registry and allows for the epidemiological characterization of surgically treated tumor subgroups and quality control of registry data.

Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund

Tumoren der Wirbelsäule stellen eine große Herausforderung hinsichtlich Diagnose und interdisziplinärer Behandlung dar. Diese Studie wurde durchgeführt, um eine große, multizentrische Kohorte chirurgisch behandelter Wirbelsäulentumorpatienten zu charakterisieren.

Material und Methoden

Anhand des Registers der Deutschen Wirbelsäulengesellschaft (DWG) wurde eine Kohorte aller chirurgisch behandelten Wirbelsäulentumorfälle charakterisiert, die zwischen 2017 und 2021 dokumentiert wurden. Eine Subgruppenanalyse wurde für die Tumorentität, die Tumorlokalisation, die Höhe der am stärksten betroffenen Segmente, die chirurgische Behandlung und demografische Parameter durchgeführt.

Ergebnisse

Insgesamt gab es 9686 Fälle, von denen 6747 als „maligne“, 1942 als „primär gutartig“, 180 als „tumorähnliche Läsionen“ und 488 als „andere“ Wirbelsäulentumore klassifiziert wurden. Die Untergruppen unterschieden sich hinsichtlich der Anzahl der betroffenen Segmente und der Lokalisation. Weitere signifikante Unterschiede gab es bei der Komplikationsrate (p = 0,003), dem Alter (p < 0,001), der Morbidität (p < 0,001) und der Dauer der Operation (p = 0,004).

Schlussfolgerung

Dies ist eine repräsentative Studie chirurgisch therapierter Wirbelsäulentumore aus einem multizentrischen Wirbelsäulenregister und ermöglicht eine epidemiologische Charakterisierung dieser Fälle und Qualitätskontrolle der Registerdaten.

Keywords

spine - tumor - vertrebrectomy - DWG - registry

Schlüsselwörter

Wirbelsäule - Tumor - Vertebrektomie - DWG - Register

Publication History

Received: 29 September 2022

Accepted after revision: 13 April 2023

Article published online:
12 June 2023

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