[Character of the clinical course and possibilities for early diagnosis of tumors of the spinal cord and spine].

An analysis of the clinical course of the disease in 516 patients with tumors of the spinal cord and vertebral column made it possible to identify 4 types of the disease, namely fulminant, acutely progressive, remittent and continuously progressive. The first two types were predominantly observed in patients with primary and secondary malignant tumors, the latter two types predominantly in patients with benign tumors. The early diagnosis of tumors of the spinal cord and vertebral column is difficult but peridurography may render a substantial assistance in such diagnosis. Using this method neoplasms were detected at the early stage of the disease--prior to the development of blockade of the spinal cord subarachnoid space--in 48% of all of the patients studied.