Investigator

Seyed Ehsan Saffari

Visiting Scientist · National Neuroscience Institute

SESSeyed Ehsan Saffa…
Papers(1)
Characteristics and P…
Collaborators(4)
Colum NolanDaniel LohJustin KerLester Lee
Institutions(3)
Duke Nus Medical Scho…National Neuroscience…Ministry of Health

Papers

Characteristics and Postoperative Outcomes for High Cervical versus Subaxial Cervical Intradural Extramedullary Tumors: A Multicenter Study

High cervical intradural extramedullary tumors are uncommon. Their relationship to surrounding neural structures and vertebral arteries makes surgical excision challenging. No previous studies have compared high cervical to subaxial cervical intradural extramedullary spinal tumors to elucidate their unique characteristics and surgical outcomes. We performed a retrospective study in which patients who underwent excision of a cervical intradural extramedullary tumor were divided into a high cervical group and a subaxial cervical group. Variables included sex, age, Charlson Comorbidity Index, volume, laterality, preoperative weakness, use of neuromonitoring and drains, instrumented fusion, complications, length of stay, histology, discharge location, recurrence, and duration of follow-up. Variables were compared between the 2 groups. Limb power and Nurick classification were charted preoperatively, at discharge, and at 6 months to plot their recovery trajectory. Eighty-four patients with a total of 90 tumors were enrolled, including 40 patients in the high cervical group and 44 patients in the subaxial spine group. More patients with neurofibromas (P = 0.011) and bilateral tumors (P = 0.044) were in the high cervical group. A greater prevalence of neurofibromatosis type 1 was significant for bilateral high cervical tumors (P = 0.033). More patients in the subaxial group had instrumented fusion (P = 0.045). More patients in the high cervical group had improvement in limb power (P = 0.025) and Nurick classification (P = 0.0001) postoperatively before discharge. By 6 months, both groups had similar recovery. No mortality was attributable to surgery in either group. High cervical intradural extramedullary spine tumors have more bilateral tumors associated with neurofibromatosis type 1. Despite the challenging anatomy, surgical resection is safe with good outcomes in this group.

239Works
1Papers
4Collaborators
Parkinson DiseaseDisease ProgressionCoronary StenosisHeart Disease Risk FactorsCommunicable Disease Control

Positions

2021–

Visiting Scientist

National Neuroscience Institute

2020–

Assistant Professor

National University of Singapore · Centre for Quantitative Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School

2016–

Instructor

Duke-NUS Medical School · Centre of Quantitative Medicine

Education

PhD

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia · Mathematical Sciences

Postdoctoral Researcher

Linkopings universitet · Division of Radiological Sciences

2016

Research Fellow

Duke-NUS Medical School · Centre for Quantitative Medicine