Nghe An General Friendship Hospital successfully performed surgery on a dumbbell-shaped myeloma invading the lung apex.

Symptoms that are easily overlooked

The patient is Tran Thi L, 37 years old, residing in Nam Dan, Nghe An. She had a completely healthy medical history, with mild numbness in her right hand accompanied by dull pain in the neck and shoulder area. The vague, transient symptoms made the patient subjective, thinking that it was due to spinal degeneration or normal muscle strain, so she self-treated with painkillers at home.

However, after a few weeks, the numbness progressed, accompanied by a feeling of weakness in the arms, chest tightness and difficulty breathing. When examined at Nghe An Provincial General Hospital, the results of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that the patient had a tumor located in the spinal canal at the high thoracic position (D1-D2) invading and occupying ¾ of the spinal cord, the remaining part of the tumor passed through the intervertebral foramen and went out to invade the top of the lung.

Medicine calls this tumor a dumbbell tumor because it has two parts: one part is in the spinal cord, the other part invades the top of the lung, the incidence rate is (0.3 - 0.4 cases per 100,000 people).

Surgery was successful, patient recovered well

The patient was consulted by an interdisciplinary team, a detailed surgical plan was made, and modern equipment and support facilities were fully prepared. The surgical team was led by Master, Doctor Ngo Van Thanh and a team of highly specialized anesthesiologists and resuscitation technicians.

The surgery, which lasted more than 2 hours, was a great success. The tumor was completely removed, relieving nerve compression without damaging important structures.

After surgery, the patient was awake, pain and numbness symptoms were significantly reduced, hand movement improved well, currently on the 7th day after surgery the patient is stable and can be discharged from the hospital.

Community warning

This patient's case shows that spinal cord tumors can cause vague symptoms such as pain and numbness in the neck and shoulders, numbness in the limbs, signs that are easily overlooked or confused with common spinal diseases such as disc herniation or spinal degeneration. However, if not detected and treated promptly, the disease can progress rapidly, leading to irreversible paralysis.

Experts recommend: People should not be subjective before the symptoms of numbness and weakness in the limbs, especially when the symptoms last for a long time and become more severe. Early examination and necessary imaging tests, such as MRI of the spine, will help detect dangerous diseases such as spinal cord tumors, thereby providing timely treatment, avoiding leaving serious sequelae.

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This is an extremely complicated case, requiring absolute precision and smooth coordination between the surgeon and the anesthesia and resuscitation team. This success once again affirms the determination of Nghe An Provincial General Hospital: to constantly develop technical expertise, apply advanced techniques, and become a solid medical support for people in the province and the North Central region.

Dr. Hoang Kim Tuan - Head of Spinal Neurosurgery Department

Thanh Chung