Distribution and Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Spinal Column Lesions (A 10-Year Study)

Ghadiri, Pooya; Hajihosseini, Mina; Sorkhizadeh, Sepehr; Gholizadeh, Milad

doi:10.22034/ijos.2025.246028

Distribution and Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Spinal Column Lesions (A 10-Year Study)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Pooya Ghadiri ¹

Mina Hajihosseini ²

Sepehr Sorkhizadeh ²

Milad Gholizadeh ¹

¹ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

² School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22034/ijos.2025.246028

Abstract

Introduction: Spine is a critical component of the musculoskeletal system, and lesions involving vertebrae may significantly affect patients’ quality of life. Benign spinal lesions, such as infections, can be curable but are often difficult to diagnose, whereas malignant lesions—including sarcomas and metastatic tumors—carry a poor prognosis.
Materials & Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study included 114 patients diagnosed with benign and malignant spinal lesions between 2008 and 2018 in 2 teaching hospital. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Variables included age, sex, pathology type, lesion type (benign/malignant), size, anatomical origin, and year of diagnosis.
Results & Discussion: 114 patients with mean age of 52.1 ± 20.5 years (range: 1 month–89 years) were studied. Males accounted for 80 (70.2%) of cases. Of all the lesions, 63 (55.3%) were benign and 51 (44.7%) malignant. Lumbar involvement was the most location frequent (64%), followed by thoracic (20.2%), sacral (13.2%), and cervical (2.6%). Pathologically, inflammatory lesions were most common (49.1%), followed by cancers (38.6%), lymphomas (4.4%), benign tumors (3.5%), sarcomas (0.9%), and others (3.5%). No significant association was observed between lesion type and sex, age, lesion site, or age at diagnosis (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Benign lesions—particularly inflammatory ones—represented the majority of spinal pathologies, though malignant lesions comprised nearly half of cases. The lumbar region was most commonly affected. These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive diagnostic approaches and points to need for further multicenter studies to improve management of spinal lesions.

Keywords

Spine

spinal neoplasms

clinical pathology

Subjects

Pathology

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