Rare spinal tumor removed through patient's eye socket

Originally published at MedicalXpress.com by University of Maryland School of Medicine on May 5, 2025

 

 

Artist's illustration shows how surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center were able to remove a large spinal tumor that had invaded the patient's cervical spine and was pressing on her spinal cord. They gained access through the patient's eye socket, which the lead neurosurgeon calls "the third nostril." Credit: Tina Wang/University of Maryland Department of Neurosurgery

In a first-of-its-kind surgery, a team led by a University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) neurosurgeon has successfully removed a rare cancerous tumor wrapped around the spine and spinal cord of a 19-year-old woman—through her eye socket (orbit).

Although surgeons use a "transorbital" approach to access tumors in the brain and sinuses, this is the first time it has ever been used to remove a spinal tumor. In this case, the young woman had a slow-growing developmental bone tumor called a chordoma in her spine. Only about 300 chordomas are diagnosed in the United States every year.

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