Fluorescence-Guided Resection of Spinal Metastases of Malignant Glioma: Report of 2 Cases

Malignant gliomas rarely metastasize outside the central nervous system.4 Therefore, data on surgical resection and its impact on the outcome for metastatic manifestations of these entities are limited. Since the pivotal publication of Stummer et al., 5-ALA-based fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) is well established for the resection of cerebral malignant gliomas.3,5-9 To date, there are no reports investigating the potential role of FGS for extracranial manifestations of this disease. Therefore, we report our experience with FGS for spinal epidural, intradural, and intraosseous metastases of a World Health Organization (WHO) grade IV glioblastoma and a WHO grade III anaplastic oligodendroglioma in the lumbar and thoracic spine, respectively. © 2012 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.