The study authors examined 318 patients who underwent surgical intervention for metastatic disease involving the spine and 307 had data available for analysis. The researchers found:
1. Survival rate at one year was 48 percent, with an average survival of 10 months.
2. The independent predictors of one-year survival were:
• Preoperative modified Bauer score
• Ambulatory status
• Serum albumin
3. The most parsimonious model weighted the modified Bauer score with two points and intact ambulatory status and normal serum albumin level with one point each, with a ceiling score of three.
4. In the final model, using the predictive score, explained 74 percent of the variation in one-year survival.
5. The modified Bauer score alone only explained 64 percent of the variation at one-year survival.
“The study demonstrates the importance of including factors related to the overall health of a patient, in addition to parameters surrounding their cancer diagnosis, in order to better prognosticate survival,” concluded the study authors. “Our predictive score performed better than the modified Bauer alone and may be used to predict survival following surgical intervention for metastatic disease.”
More articles on spine surgery:
10 spine, neurosurgeon moves in June 2015
Scoliosis surgery for overweight adult patients: 5 key notes on complications
Datta Endoscopic Banc Surgery & Pain Center adds 2 locations
