Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40490547›Full record

ArticleChild's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery2025

Effectiveness of conus lipoma surgery-a case series.

Peter Spazzapan, Tomaž Velnar, Borut Prestor

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Peter SpazzapanClinical Department of Neurosurgery, Unit of Paediatric Neurosurgery, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. peter.spazzapan@kclj.si.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5278-7947
Tomaž VelnarClinical Department of Neurosurgery, Unit of Paediatric Neurosurgery, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6283-4348
Borut PrestorClinical Department of Neurosurgery, Unit of Paediatric Neurosurgery, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5464-5424

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe management of conus lipomas in children can be conservative, but prophylactic radical removal has been proven to be the only way to ameliorate the natural history of this disease. We started our surgical practice aiming toward total removal of spinal cord lipomas in 2017. This study aims to present our early results. MATERIALS AND

methodsPatients younger than 12 years of age that had a conus lipoma surgically treated between April 2017 and April 2024 were included in the study. We analysed the preoperative presence of symptoms, defined the subtype of lipoma, the presence of syringomyelia and the degree of rotation of the placode. Among the operative data, we reviewed the preservation of the bulbocavernosus reflex (BCR). Postoperatively, we analysed the onset of new neurological or urological deficits and calculated the cord/sac ratio and the amount of residual fat.

resultsA total of 19 patients have been included, with a median follow-up of 55.1 months. Dorsal lipomas were 21%, transitional 73.6% and chaotic 5.2% cases, while using the new classification of spinal lipomas (NCSL) type 1 were 63.1%, type 2 were 31.5%, and type 3 were 5.2%. Transitional and chaotic lipomas were significantly associated with a lower level of the conus (p = 0.0002), as type 2 and 3 of the NCSL (p = 0.0441). The patients were symptomatic in 31.5% and asymptomatic in 68.4% of cases. The preoperative presence of symptoms was associated with an age at surgery higher than 3 years (p = 0.0006). The median age at surgery was 65 months. The residual fat tissue was < 20 mm

conclusionsOur results confirm the difficulty of achieving a safe and radical excision in transitional and chaotic (NCSL types 2 and 3) lipomas. These lipomas were significantly related to a higher postoperative amount of residual fat and to the occurrence of complications. For these lesions, the concept of radical resection should be shifted towards a concept of untethering by means of partial resection with maximal preservation of neurological function.

Indexed as

LipomaNeurosurgical ProceduresSpinal Cord NeoplasmsChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantMaleRetrospective StudiesTreatment OutcomeIntraoperative neuromonitoringOccult spinal dysraphismTethered cord

Identifiers

PMID40490547
PMCPMC12149261

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.