Interest of Preoperative Arteriography to Identify the Adamkiewicz Artery Before Surgery for Basi-thoracic Neuroblastic Tumors

Neuroblastic tumors (NBTs) develop from neural crest cells that give rise to the sympathetic nervous system. They include neuroblastomas, ganglioneuroblastomas, and ganglioneuromas. They represent approximately 10% of solid tumors in children under 15 years of age. In 15 to 20% of cases, NBTs are located in the thoracic region. These paravertebral tumors have an extracanal component and some also have an intraspinal component (dumbbell tumors) that can cause spinal cord compression. Surgery for these tumors also exposes the patient to neurological complications. In the thorax, the basi-thoracic location (T9-T12) may be particularly at risk due to the presence of the artery of Adamkiewicz (AKA), which supplies blood to the spinal cord; damage to this artery can result in spinal cord ischemia. To avoid this scenario, some teams recommend performing spinal cord arteriography to identify AKA. However, many centers do not perform arteriography and do not report more postoperative complications.

Currently, there is no consensus on the indications for performing preoperative spinal arteriography in patients undergoing surgery for basi-thoracic NBT.

This study evaluates the practice in France of preoperative arteriography to identify the AKA among patients undergoing surgery for basi-thoracic neuroblastic tumors and analyzes the incidence of postoperative neurological complications in these patients.

It seems that in France, unlike other European sites, there is no systematic search for the artery of Adamkiewicz before surgery for neuroblastic tumors in most pediatric surgery departments. It does not seem that this is responsible for postoperative neurological complications but this assessment has never been performed.

The hypothesis of the study is that the neurological complications observed postoperatively are due to nerve root surgery or to spinal cord injury by direct trauma through the foramens, but not to spinal cord ischemia.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients undergoing surgery for a neuroblastic tumor (neuroblastoma, ganglioneuroblastoma, ganglioneuroma)
• Basithoracic location between T8 and L1
• With or without intraspinal component
• Treated in a pediatric surgery department in France
• Between 2005 and 2024
• Adult patients or holders of parental authority of minor patients informed and not opposed to the use of data for the study

Exclusion criteria

• Post-operative follow-up of less than 6 months