Disclosures: Madeline E. Flores, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Case Diagnosis: This is a case series describing the rehabilitation course and outcomes of 2 adult chordoma patients

Case Description or Program Description: The first is a 62-year-old woman with prior sacral chordoma with resultant high sacral amputation and radiation who presented with worsening lower back pain and found to complication with undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma. The second is a 57-year-old male with known cervical chordoma who presented with worsening left sided weakness and dysarthria who presented to rehab following chordoma resection

Setting: Acute inpatient rehabilitation

Assessment/Results: Both patients showed significant functional improvements following rehabilitation stay.

Discussion (relevance): Chordomas arise from embryonic cells of the notochord that eventually develop into the spine. Cells typically disappear around 8 weeks however can remain at the base of the skull and spine. If these cells become cancerous, they develop into chordomas. Chordomas are complicated spinal tumors that can develop anywhere along the cord, most often in the cervical spine and sacrum. Symptoms include headaches, visual changes, muscle weakness or bowel or bladder difficulties. They are often diagnosed around age 50-60. Often times these tumors recur and metastasize. Since these tumors are uncommon and often undiagnosed, there is limited data evaluating the functional outcomes of these patients.

Conclusions: Chordomas make up a fraction of patients admitted to acute inpatient rehabilitation resulting in a limited understanding of their functional potential. Despite the complications and recurrence that can present as challenges for these patients, this case series supports and demonstrates the rehabilitation potential following acute inpatient rehabilitation.

Level of Evidence: Level V

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/rehabilitation-outcomes-following-chordoma-resection/