Long-term results of surgical treatment of spinal lipomas. Report of 18 cases

We report the long-term results of surgery on spinal lipomas in a series of 18 patients. Four patients had congenital lipomas with spina bifida and/or myelomeningocele and the other fourteen had tumoural (true) lipomas. Simple decompression or subtotal removal afforded a very good prognosis in all patients with intradural lipomas whose preoperative neurological deficits were slight. In the light of the long follow-up, the lack of difference in biological behaviour between congenital and tumoural (true) lipomas leads us to regard the two types as a single maldevelopment entity of dysembryogenetic origin.