Surgical Treatment of Spinal Meningiomas in the Elderly (≥75 Years): Which Factors Affect the Neurological Outcome? An International Multicentric Study of 72 Cases

Simple Summary Spinal meningiomas (SMs) are slow growing lesions, often occurring in middle- and old-aged patients. Few data about age-related prognostic factors are available in the literature to date. We analyzed a series of elderly patients undergoing surgery for a SM in the last twenty years in four different European tertiary referral centers. This work aimed to assess the surgical outcome and to identify possible outcome predictors. In this international multicentric retrospective study involving 72 patients older than >= 75 years, we highlight that functional preoperative score (according to modified McCormick scale) and age at surgery correlate with functional outcome. (1) Background: With the increasing life expectancy in the Western world, an increasing number of old patients presents with spinal meningioma. Considering the benign nature of these tumors, the functional outcome remains of great importance, since more people reach old age in general conditions of well-being and satisfactory autonomy. (2) Methods: We conducted an international multicenter retrospective study to investigate demographic, clinical and radiological data in a population of elderly patients (>= 75 years of age) undergoing surgery for SM from January 2000 to December 2020 in four European referral centers. The aim was to identify prognostic and predictive factors for a good postoperative functional outcome. (3) Results: 72 patients were included in the study. Complete tumor resection (Simpson I or II) was achieved in 67 (95.7%) cases. Intraoperative complications were reported in 7 (9.9%) patients while postoperative complications were found in 12 (16.7%). An excellent general postoperative status (McCormick I and II) was achieved in 65.3%. Overall, surgical resection had a good impact on patients' functional outcome (86.1% either showing an improvement or maintaining a good preoperative status). Uni- and multivariate analyses found that both age and preoperative modified McCormick independently correlated with relative outcome (coeff = -0.058, p = 0.0251; coeff = 0.597, p < 0.0001) and with postoperative status (coeff = 0.058, p = 0.02507; coeff = 0.402, p = 0.00027), respectively. (4) Conclusions: Age and preoperative modified McCormick were found to be independent prognostic factors. Nevertheless, advanced age (>= 75), per se, did not seem to contraindicate surgery, even in those with severe preoperative neurological deficits. The functional results sustain the need for surgical resection of SM in the elderly.

Automated summary

This study aimed to assess the surgical outcome and identify possible outcome predictors for elderly patients with spinal meningiomas. The research found that functional preoperative score and age at surgery were correlated with functional outcome. Surgical resection had a positive impact on functional outcome, suggesting the importance of surgery for elderly patients with spinal meningiomas.