• Mingzhe Zhang, Raynald Liu, Yi Xiang, Jianhui Mao, Guangjie Li, Ronghua Ma, and Zhaosheng Sun.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Harrison International Peace Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Hebei, China.
• World Neurosurg. 2018 Jun 1; 114: 408420408-420.

BackgroundThe incidence of primary spinal cord melanoma (PSCM) is rare. Several case series and case reports have been published in the literature. However, the predictive factors of PSCM survival and management options are not discussed in detail.MethodsWe present a case of PSCM; total resection was achieved and chemotherapy was given postoperatively. A comprehensive search was performed on PubMed's electronic database using the words "primary spinal cord melanoma." Survival rates with various gender, location, treatment, and metastasis condition were collected from the published articles and analyzed.ResultsFifty nine cases were eligible for the survival analysis; 54% were male and 46% were female. Patient sex did not influence overall survival. The most common location was the thorax. Patient sex and tumor location did not influence overall survival. The major presenting symptoms were weakness and paresthesia of the extremities. Metastasis or dissemination was noted in 45.16% of 31 patients. In the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, patients who had metastasis had the worst prognosis. Extent of resection was not related to mortality. Patients who received surgery and surgery with adjuvant therapy had a better median survival than did those who had adjuvant therapy alone. Prognosis was worst in those patients who underwent only adjuvant therapy without surgery (5 months).ConclusionsSurgery is the first treatment of choice in treating PSCM. The goal of tumor resection is to reduce symptoms. Adjuvant therapy after surgery had a beneficial effect on limiting the metastasis.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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