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The authors operated on 61 tumors of the cervical spinal cord from 1980 to 2000, of which 15 were dumbbell tumors. Two were resected by anterior approach, 8 by posterior approach, and 7 by both the anterior and posterior approaches simultaneously. To preserve the alignment of neck, laminoplasty or partial laminectomy with bone graft was performed. The tumors were resected including the capsule to prevent recurrence, and gross total resection was achieved in 13 patients. There were no symptoms of recurrence.

We report a case of tabetic arthropathy of the thoracic and lumbar spine with paraplegia and retention of urine. The patient is a 61-year-old man who underwent decompression of the spinal canal from L3-5 two times in 1982 and 1984. On admission in April 1989, the diagnosis was made by the characteristic X-ray findings of Th8, 9 and L3, 4, 5, Argyll Robertson pupils, absence of both ankle and knee jerks, loss of deep tendon sensation and blood Wassermann reaction. He had been treated with decompression of the spinal canal from Th8-9 and L3-5 in April, then 2 months later, because of instability of the lumbar spine, he was treated with anterior fusion from L3-4 and wiring.

We reported two operative cases of bone dysplasias with spastic tetraplegia. Case 1 was a 60-year-old man, 130cm in height and 42kg in weight. Because he had a dysplasia with rhizomelic micromelia and a trident hand deformity, we decided him to be an achondroplasia.Because he suffered from spastic tetraplegia due to multiple developmental canal stenosis, we operated on his cervical spine. Case 2 was a 34-year-old man, 110cm and 32kg. Because he had a rhizomelic micromelia and his metaphysical deformity was severe, we decided him to be a pseudo-achondroplasia. Because he suffered from spastic tetraplegia and respiratory disturbance due to cord compression in C1/2 level, we performed posterior decompression of C1 and occipito-cervical-fusion.

Between 1983 and 1988, osteoplastic laminotomy was performed in six cases after tumor extirpation of the cauda equina. Histological examinations of the tumor proved that five were Schwannoma and one was benign cystic teratoma. Surgical procedures were determined by size and location of the tumor. Four cases were treatd by the operative technique reported in 1976 by Raimondi et al. In one case, after extirpation of the left side dumb-bell type Schwannoma between the third and fourth lumbar vertbra, excised spinous process was used for coverage of the spinal canal and postero-lateral fusion was also performed in the affected side. A small and localized tumor was excised with partial hemilaminectomy and resection of the reconstructed spinous process. Reconstruction of posterior part of the lumbar vertebra is important to prevent postoperative kyphosis, anterior subluxation, and instability of the spine especially in children.