Symptoms of the spinal hemangioma and its treatment

Hemangiomas of the spine are some of the benign tumors that are vascular by nature, grow slowly enough, can be accompanied by pain, but can also be painless. Hemangiomas most often affect the vertebrae, but generally occur in absolutely any bone tissue. Relate to the class of primary tumors.

Hemangiomas are most often formed on two parts of the spine - lumbar and thoracic. According to statistics, exactly these departments account for about 90% of all diseases. And the frequency is five to six times higher in those who have this disease observed in close relatives. So its role is directly hereditary factor.

Hemangiomas are one and multilevel. The first - one vertebra is affected, and the second - up to five and in very rare cases more vertebrae.

This tumor is so insidious that it is not always possible to evaluate its nature.

Hemangiomas come in the following forms:

• Capillary tumors - in structure they are a set of capillaries that intertwine and reliably connect. They do not cause pain. In surgical intervention, there is almost never a need.
• Cavernous tumors - look like thin-walled cavities of different sizes that communicate with each other. Inside they are covered with endothelium, as a rule, elastic fibers in the walls of the vessels are completely absent.
• Racemy tumors are seals, clumps of arterial or venous vessels.
• Mixed - combine the characteristic features of the first three. Tumors are formed due to capillaries, large vessels - arteries and veins, cavernous cavities of

. According to the intensity of lesions of the vertebral bodies of the tumor, there are five types: the affected area is the entire vertebra;only the body of the vertebra;posterior semicircle;combination of the second and third type - the body of the vertebra and part of the posterior half-ring;Epidural hemangiomas - caused by increased pressure and vascular rupture.

In hemangioma of the spine, symptoms appear only in 15% of cases, and in other cases - benign tumors, without pronounced symptomatic manifestations. But if a patient does not get into that lucky number and the tumor has an aggressive character, then its active growth will be observed. This will cause a decrease in the strength of the affected bone and local pain in the vertebra. If you do not intervene in time, then this process will progress and lead to a vertebral fracture.

Nonaggressive hemangiomas for emerging symptoms are of two kinds:

• are not accompanied by pain syndromes at all and do not have severe symptoms, that is, they do not make themselves felt;
• is accompanied by local pain.

Aggressive hemangiomas also manifest themselves in different ways:

• tumors that do not have clinical symptoms, but are radically aggressive;
• have all the relevant symptoms and radiological activity.

Clinical symptoms of the spinal hemangioma are persistent strong pain in the back region, which are intensified by physical exertion, by the compression of the spinal cord under the influence of the tumor. The latter can lead to fracture of the vertebrae.

Aggressiveness of tumors can be detected by radiological:

• is affected by the whole body of the vertebra;
• there is an increase in hemangioma toward the root of the arch;
• widens the cortical layer;
• abnormal tumor cellness with appropriate studies;
• , in the diagnosis, soft tissue tissues located in the epidural space were identified.

If the presence combines several or more of these signs, then the tumor is aggressive or potentially aggressive.

Diagnosis is carried out primarily by X-ray and tomography.

X-ray provides an opportunity to identify mainly tumors of considerable size, and carries less informational utility in comparison with the tomogram.

When carrying out an X-ray, there are such kinds of changes in the spine - vacuole, columnar, net and mixed rarefactions in the structure.

Any changes in the structure of the spine are a reliable confirmation of its lesion.

It is best if the symptoms of the hemangioma of the spine and its treatment are prescribed by computer or magnetic resonance imaging.

A computer tomogram gives a picture of a lesion of the vertebra in the form of honeycombs, this is caused by the lysis of the bone trabeculae.

From the treatment methods can be identified: radiation therapy, alcoholization, embolization, puncture vertebroplasty.

Surgical intervention for a long time was the only possible method of treatment. During the operation, the soft-tissue component of the tumor was necessarily removed and, if possible, partial, in rare cases, complete resection of the diseased bone. This method is not effective enough and every fifth case was fatal because of bleeding.

Historically, after the surgical method of treatment, radiotherapy was proposed. Under the influence of X-rays, the soft-tissue component of the tumor begins to change, the vascular lumens will coincide and heal. But the bone component will not change. But the effect compared with the surgical operation was higher, in almost 90% of cases, the progression of the tumor stopped. However, it is not advisable to use it because of the high radiation load on the body.

Relatively recently began to use alcoholization with hemangiomas. It can be used in the early stages and many experts consider this method not very safe. Has a number of side effects. The bottom line is that the sclerosis of the tumor is carried out by 96% ethyl alcohol.

The method of artificial thrombosis using the embolus is also widely used. They come in different sizes and with different membranes. In the treatment of embolus can be injected into the tumor itself or be fed into the blood. An elaborate methodology does not always bring the expected results.

One of the most used methods in the fight against aggressive hemangiomas is puncture vertebroplasty. In the body of the vertebra, a special bone cement is introduced, which increases the strength of the vertebra and makes it possible to avoid fractures.