• Bradford L Currier, Panayiotis J Papagelopoulos, William E Krauss, Krishnan K Unni, and Michael J Yaszemski.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. currier.bradford@mayo.edu
• Spine. 2007 Apr 20; 32 (9): E294-9.

Study DesignEn bloc resection of a chordoma of the C5 vertebra with wide surgical margins.ObjectiveTo present the surgical technique of total spondylectomy for a chordoma of the C5 vertebral body.Summary Of Background DataMalignant bone tumors require wide resection. Wide resection by total en bloc spondylectomy is difficult or not feasible for malignant vertebral tumors of the cervical spine due to the peculiar anatomic complexity of this region, including the vertebral arteries and the neural structures. There are no previous reports of en bloc resection of cervical spine tumors with wide surgical margins.MethodsUsing staged posterior and anterior approaches, a total en bloc spondylectomy and spine arthrodesis was performed. En bloc excision of a C5 chordoma was achieved using a threadwire T-saw (Tomita and Kawahara, Kanazawa, Japan) with surgical margins free of tumor. The patient received postoperative adjuvant proton beam radiation therapy.ResultsThe patient remains disease-free 9 years after the operation.ConclusionTotal en bloc spondylectomy with wide surgical margins is feasible for malignant bone tumors of the cervical spine.

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