Letter to the Editor concerning “Surgery and survival outcomes of 30 patients with neurological deficit due to clear cell renal cell carcinoma spinal metastases” by Shuai Han et al. (Eur Spine J, 2015; DOI 10.1007/s00586-015-3912-3)

Excerpt

The optimal management of spinal metastatic disease is still subject to considerable ambiguity thus any new guiding evidence in this respect is more than welcome. Han et al. [1] purport in their article to review 30 patients with neurological deficit due to spinal metastases of clear cell renal cell carcinoma; however, the reader is quickly disappointed to find out from Table 1 that 15 patients had a completely normal neurological exam (Frankel E) and additional 9 patients had minor deficits not precluding ambulation (Frankel D). Altogether 24 patients had no or minimal deficit before surgery [2]. So, it is very disturbing that the entire text (Title, Results, Discussion) repeatedly affirms that “all patients had neurological deficit” and consequently, the assertion that “all 30 patients recovered from their neurological deficits except one (#24)” is extremely misleading. …