Primary melanoma of the spinal cord

Four cases of primary melanoma of the spinal cord are reported.Two were males，two females.All were extramedullary and intradurally. Of these，one was at the cervical cord，and three thoracic.All cases were followed up，two of them alive 3 years，two died within 8 months.The clinical diagnosis of the tumor was very difficult，all were confirmed by operation or pathological examination.We should try ours best to resect the tumor as much as possible during operation，the patient may require long-term surviral with general therapy after operation·