• Qinhan Hou, Yong Mo, Jinglin Guo, Teng Deng, Ligen Mo, and Changyuan Wei.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, Nanning, China.
• World Neurosurg. 2024 Jun 1; 186: e614e621e614-e621.

BackgroundPatients with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LMC) experience a poor prognosis and rapid progression, and cerebrospinal fluid drainage (CSFD) is used to manage intracranial hypertension and hydrocephalus in LMC patients. This study aims to describe a novel discovery of preoperative radiological features in patients who underwent CSFD for LMC.MethodsA retrospective review was conducted during the past 5 years of LMC patients with intracranial hypertension and hydrocephalus who underwent CSFD. We evaluated the patients' preoperative radiological features, clinical characteristics, and survival times.ResultsA total of 36 patients were included. Of the 36 patients, 34 underwent ventriculoperitoneal shunting, and 2 patients underwent only external ventricular drainage due to rapid progression. The median preoperative Karnofsky performance scale score was 40.0 (interquartile range [IQR], 20.0-40.0). The median survival time after surgery was 5 months (IQR, 0.00-10.43 months). Of the 36 patients, 24 (66.7%) had supratentorial cerebral edema before surgery, including 14 patients (38.9%) with features of disproportionately enlarged subarachnoid space hydrocephalus (DESH). Four patients (11.1%) exhibited cerebellar swelling and had a median survival time of 0.27 month (IQR, 0.00-0.56 month). Nine patients (25%) have enhancement lesions on the cerebellum. The survival curve analysis shows that patients with features of cerebellar enhancement have shorter survival times than other patients. Patients with DESH features have longer survival times compared with those with global cerebral edema.ConclusionsPatients with radiological features of cerebellar enhancement have shorter postoperative survival than other patients; however, those with supratentorial cerebral edema, especially features of DESH, could benefit from CSFD. Patients with cerebellar swelling should avoid undergoing CSFD.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

27 keywords...

hide…