Validation of Novel Predictive Score for Patients With Spinal Metastases

Recently, the investigators proposed a clinical prediction score that used a patient's modified Bauer grade, ambulatory status, and pre-operative serum albumin as a means to predict long-term survival following spine surgery for metastatic disease. This prognostic utility was developed using one-year mortality as the sole outcome measure. While the scoring system demonstrated many of the necessary attributes of a useful prediction tool, including simplicity, ease of use and clinical utility, it has yet to be validated prospectively and its capacity to predict other peri-operative outcomes, including physical and mental function following intervention, pain relief and the risk of complications, remain incompletely explored. To further evaluate the utility of this prognostic score, the investigators propose a series of three integrated experiments that will prospectively determine its capacity to accurately inform clinical decision making and recommendations for surgery for patients with metastatic spinal disease.