[Cement augmentation for vertebral osteolytic metastatic lesions: an evaluation on postoperative CT]

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of cement augmentation on the osteolytic lesion in patients with vertebral metastasis. Methods: A total of consecutive 132 patients with 268 vertebral metastatic lesions treated with PVP from January 2008 to December 2016 in Zhongda Hospital were enrolled in this study. Retrospective analysis of preoperative, postoperative 3 days, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and ≥ 18 months imaging data on CT, the local control and progression of the tumor were evaluated by MDA response criteria. The local control rates were compared between the groups with the different rate of cement filling by Chi²-test. Results: Vertebroplasty procedures were performed successfully in all 268 vertebrae under DSA guidance, and the mean volume of PMMA injected in each vertebra was 0.7-8.5(3.9±1.5)ml.The rate of local control at 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and ≥18 months after PVP was respectively 98.9%, 95.1%, 91.8%, and 85.2%, the difference was statistically significant(all P<0.05). The local control rate showed a statistically significant relationship to the groups with the rate of cement filling at 6 months, 12 months and ≥18 months after PVP, but there was no statistical difference at postoperative 3 months. The rate of local control was higher in 68 patients with lung or gastrointestinal cancer than in 17 patients with liver or kidney cancer at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Cement augmentation has a local anti-tumor effect on vertebral osteolytic metastatic lesion, and the anti-tumor effect will decrease as the follow-up time extended.