Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Jun 1997
Anaplastic ependymoma: treatment of pediatric patients with or without craniospinal radiation therapy.
The authors conducted a retrospective review of the clinical and treatment characteristics and outcomes in 28 pediatric patients with anaplastic ependymoma treated with radiation therapy since the advent of computerized tomography (CT) (1978-1994). Twelve patients received craniospinal irradiation followed by a boost to the primary site, two received whole-brain radiation therapy followed by a boost to the primary site, and the remaining 14 were treated with focal radiation therapy. The mean dose to the primary site was 5486 cGy. ⋯ The significance of anaplastic histological classification is controversial. Differences in the disease-free and overall survival rates have been demonstrated between ependymomas and anaplastic ependymomas treated in the pre-CT era. The results of this study show that there is no benefit from craniospinal irradiation in this group of patients.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 1997
Case ReportsHemodynamic and metabolic disturbances in patients with intracranial dural arteriovenous fistulas: positron emission tomography evaluation before and after treatment.
In patients with intracranial dural arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs), clinical symptoms and angiographic findings vary. The relevance of disturbed venous drainage to clinical symptoms and prognosis has been recognized. However, the roles of cerebral hemodynamics and metabolism, which are impaired by shunt flow or disturbed venous drainage, have not been fully evaluated. ⋯ In two patients who underwent transarterial embolization of the feeding vessels only or craniotomy, no hemodynamic improvement was achieved. Our results indicate that hemodynamic insufficiency detected by the PET study corresponded well with cerebral symptoms and angiographic findings of retrograde venous drainage into the cortical veins and delayed parenchymal circulation, but not with sinus occlusion or arterial blood supply. Eradication or prevention of retrograde venous drainage from the affected sinus into the cortical veins should be a treatment goal in patients with dural AVFs.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 1997
Review Case ReportsLymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma with clinical resemblance to inflammatory pseudotumor. Report of two cases.
Two cases of lymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma manifesting clinical and radiological characteristics unusual for a meningioma are reported. The patient in Case 1 was a 22-year-old man with a 9-year history of bilateral visual disturbances and recent dyspnea. ⋯ The patient in Case 2 was a 24-year-old woman with an original diagnosis of clival meningioma, which recurred as multiple skull base lesions that spontaneously regressed in 10 months. These two cases and others reported in the literature indicate that lymphoplasmacyte-rich meningiomas may manifest peculiar biological behavior more typical of intracranial granulomas than of meningiomas.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 1997
Long-term prognosis for atypical and malignant meningiomas: a study of 71 surgical cases.
To contribute to a better understanding of the prognostic differences between atypical and malignant meningiomas as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the influence of the grade of initial surgical excision on postoperative course, 42 cases of atypical and 29 of malignant meningioma were studied, along with long-term follow up. The two groups were compared with respect to long-term survival, recurrence-free survival, and median time to recurrence. The prognostic significance of the Simpson grade of surgical resection and tumor location was also considered. ⋯ In conclusion, the current study shows that for most patients with atypical meningioma the prognosis was less severe than for those with malignant meningioma, but the risk of a downhill course resulting from malignancy after incomplete resection and recurrence was not negligible (26%). In addition, the WHO classification was found to be inadequate for a minority of the atypical meningioma cases, which currently have the same unfavorable course as cases of malignant meningioma. The results also indicate that objective Simpson Grade I extirpation of convexity meningiomas can be successful despite histological findings of malignancy.
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 1997
Clinical TrialHydroxyurea for treatment of unresectable and recurrent meningiomas. II. Decrease in the size of meningiomas in patients treated with hydroxyurea.
In this paper the authors present the first evidence that meningiomas respond to treatment with hydroxyurea. Hydroxyurea was administered as an adjunct chemotherapeutic treatment in patients with recurrent and unresectable meningiomas. Hydroxyurea was used because experimental data demonstrated that it inhibits growth of cultured human meningioma cells and meningioma transplants in nude mice by inducing apoptosis. ⋯ The fourth patient with the malignant meningioma in the left cerebellopontine angle has had no recurrence for 24 months. Long-term treatment with hydroxyurea may result in full remission of tumors in meningioma patients. The preliminary data indicate that hydroxyurea provides true medical treatment in patients with unresectable and recurrent meningiomas, replacing palliative surgery and radiotherapy in the management of this disease.