Hemangioma of the spine is a benign tumor that affects the bones of the vertebrae. To date, the causes of hemangioma of the spine have not been fully investigated, but it is known that hemangioma can occur as a result of impaired development of blood vessels. As a rule, this is influenced, most of all, by the hereditary factor.
Hemangioma of the spine - symptoms
This is a type of tumor, the process of its formation, most often, is asymptomatic, and it can be identified only after contacting a specialist in connection with other diseases of the spine. The most dangerous case is the appearance of pain in the back - this means that the size of the tumor is more than 1 cm, which led to a fracture of the vertebral body. But this rarely happens.
A tumor can affect both the entire spine and its specific part. Thus, depending on the location of the hemangioma, there are: thoracic, cervical and lumbar spine.
Hemangioma of the thoracic spine, most often, affects the middle and lower thoracic vertebrae. Neoplasms in the thoracic part constitute the greater part among this disease. According to the frequency of the lesion, the second place after the thoracic, according to medical statistics, takes the hemangioma of the lumbar spine. A benign tumor that affects the cervical vertebrae and is characterized by a sharp pain in the neck is called a hemangioma of the cervical spine.
How to treat a hemangioma of the spine?
In modern medicine, several methods of treatment are used:
- Surgical intervention - the soft tissue component of the tumor is removed with partial excision of the affected bone. But, since, hemangioma is a benign tumor, this method is used only if the tumor progresses in size and discharge, or when the patient's state of health worsens.
- Radiation therapy - irradiation of tumor tissues is carried out, after which the process of their necrosis begins. To date, this method is practically not applied, as it has many side effects and as a result of such treatment the vertebra defect does not disappear - there is a risk of its fracture.
- Embolization - due to this procedure, special thrombotic agents are inserted into the blood vessels.
- Alcoholization - sclerosing the tumor, due to 96% ethanol and other sclerosing drugs.
- Puncture vertebroplasty is the best modern method by which "bone cement" is injected into the body of the affected vertebra. It provides the spine with biochemical strength, restores the ability to maintain, thereby reducing the risk of side effects,
complications and the period of rehabilitation of the patient decreases.
With hemangioma of the spine, there are a number of contraindications - massage, increased physical exertion on the back, as well as manual therapy. When they are applied, it is practically impossible to achieve a positive effect, but it is quite simple to cause an exacerbation of the symptoms and increase the risk of a pathological fracture.
For the same reason, patients, when diagnosed as a hemangioma of the spine, do not recommend treatment with folk remedies. This method is considered ineffective, because neoplasms are in hard-to-reach places.