Intramedullary means inside the spinal cord. Intramedullary tumours are much less common than brain tumors and are only 2-4% of all intrinsic tumors of the central nervous system. Their most common initial symptom is generalized back pain, which is very difficult to distinguish clinically from back pain caused by musculoskeletal conditions.


Patients are often diagnosed only after the development of neurologic signs and symptoms that may occur later in the course of the disease. Early diagnosis is important, however, because surgical removal for most tumors is curative, and surgical results are optimized when tumors are smaller. Also, neurological deficits resulting from intramedullary spinal cord tumors are seldom reversible. As such, functional outcomes after surgery are closely tied to the patient's preoperative neurologic condition.