Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 2012
Review Case ReportsGamma knife surgery for skull base meningiomas.
Skull base meningiomas are challenging tumors owing in part to their close proximity to important neurovascular structures. Complete microsurgical resection can be associated with significant morbidity, and recurrence rates are not inconsequential. In this study, the authors evaluate the outcomes of skull base meningiomas treated with Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) both as an adjunct to microsurgery and as a primary treatment modality. ⋯ Stereotactic radiosurgery offers a high rate of tumor control and neurological preservation in patients with skull base meningiomas. After radiosurgery, better outcomes were observed for those receiving an optimal radiosurgery dose and harboring tumors located in a cerebellopontine angle, parasellar, or petroclival location.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 2012
Review Case ReportsLong-term tumor control and cranial nerve outcomes following γ knife surgery for larger-volume vestibular schwannomas.
γ knife surgery (GKS) for vestibular schwannoma (VS) is an accepted treatment for small- to medium-sized tumors, generally smaller than 2.5 cm in the maximum posterior fossa dimension. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of GKS for larger tumors. ⋯ Single-session radiosurgery is a successful treatment for the majority of patients with larger VSs. Although tumor control rates are lower than those for smaller VSs managed with GKS, the cranial nerve morbidity of GKS is significantly lower than that typically achieved via resection of larger VSs.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Mar 2012
Review Case ReportsClinical, radiological, and pathological features of 24 atypical intracranial epidermoid cysts.
Most intracranial epidermoid cysts typically present with long T1 and T2 signals on MR images. Other epidermoid cysts with atypical MR images are often misdiagnosed as other diseases. In this study the authors aimed to analyze the incidence and the clinical, radiological, and pathological features of atypical epidermoid cysts. ⋯ Radiologically, an atypical epidermoid cyst should be differentiated from dermoid cyst, teratoma, schwannoma, glioma, craniopharyngioma, and cavernous angioma. A tendency toward spontaneous hemorrhage is confirmed in atypical epidermoid cysts, and a hypothesis was proposed for spontaneously intracystic hemorrhage in atypical epidermoid cysts. Follow-up confirmed long-term survival of patients with atypical epidermoid cysts.