Meningioangiomatosis of the brain stem

1994 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 732-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyros S. Kollias ◽  
Kerry R. Crone ◽  
William S. Ball ◽  
Erin C. Prenger ◽  
Edgar T. Ballard
Keyword(s):  
Brain Stem ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Facial Weakness ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Weighted Image ◽  
Small Vessels ◽  
Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Firm Mass

✓ The case is reported of meningioangiomatosis of the brain stem in a 3½-year-old girl who suffered from vomiting, left facial weakness, difficulty in swallowing, and ataxia. This is believed to be the first reported case of meningioangiomatosis in the brain stem. Computerized tomography showed an intensely enhancing hyperdense mass in the left restiform body. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the lesion was isointense to gray matter on the T1-weighted image and hypointense on the T2-weighted image, with a surrounding zone of high T2 signal and intense enhancement. Angiography was normal. Surgical exploration demonstrated an intramedullary firm mass that was partially resected. Histologically, the mass consisted of a low-grade lesion of meningeal origin with spindle cells in a whorling pattern that were occasionally focused around small vessels. On 2-year follow-up imaging, the lesion remains unchanged in size. Certain particularities of this lesion are discussed in the context of the literature.

Long-term outcome of 89 low-grade brain-stem gliomas after interstitial radiation therapy

1991 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 740-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Mundinger ◽  
Dieter F. Braus ◽  
Joachim K. Krauss ◽  
Walter Birg
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Therapy ◽  
Brain Stem ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Term Follow Up ◽  
Interstitial Radiation Therapy ◽  
Brain Stem Gliomas ◽  
Interstitial Radiation

✓ Between 1974 and 1985, 89 patients suffering from histologically confirmed, nonresectable low-grade astrocytomas located in the brain stem were entered into a retrospective study. Iodine-125 (125I) was implanted in 29 patients and iridium-192 (192Ir) in 26 patients. Computerized tomography revealed that 78% of the tumors in these patients were located chiefly in the mesencephalic region, 70% were circumscribed, and 78% were contrast-enhanced. Thirty-four patients underwent biopsy without prior aggressive tumor-specific therapy such as chemotherapy or external beam irradiation. Among these, 70% of the tumors were located predominantly in the pons, 74% were diffuse, and 59% were hypodense or isodense after contrast enhancement. Long-term follow-up investigations indicated that life expectancy after interstitial radiation therapy with 125I implanted directly by catheter either permanently or temporarily showed a more favorable trend than that after treatment with 192Ir. Interstitial radiation therapy with 125I appears to be an effective treatment for slowly proliferating, differentiated, well-delineated, nonresectable brain-stem gliomas. This technique makes it possible to achieve radio-surgical tumor control and, when carefully applied, represents the least traumatic treatment. Reduction of the tumor mass brings about improvement of the clinical symptoms. Further investigations on the biological behavior of brain-stem gliomas and prospective randomized long-term follow-up studies are necessary to evaluate the different kinds of treatment available for these patients.

Diagnosis and management of pediatric brain-stem gliomas

1986 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 745-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann R. Stroink ◽  
Harold J. Hoffman ◽  
E. Bruce Hendrick ◽  
Robin P. Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Brain Stem ◽  
Survival Time ◽  
Group Iv ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Iii ◽  
Mean Survival Time ◽  
Group I ◽  
Group Ii ◽  
The Brain

✓ The authors reviewed the cases of 49 children, ranging in age from 9 months to 15 years, who were diagnosed by computerized tomography (CT) as having brain-stem glioma. Four distinct groups of brain-stem gliomas were identified based on CT scan characteristics: Group I included isodense contrast-enhancing tumors that were dorsally exophytic into the fourth ventricle; Group II(a) included hypodense nonenhancing intrinsic tumors of the brain stem; Group II(b) included intrinsic tumors of the brain stem with hyperdense exophytic components extending ventrally and laterally into the cerebellopontine and prepontine cisterns; Group III included intrinsic cystic tumors with contrast-enhancing capsules; and Group IV included focally intrinsic tumors of the brain stem that were isodense and enhanced brightly on administration of contrast medium. The clinical presentation, efficacy of surgical intervention, pathology, and prognosis of these tumors were correlated within these groupings. Eleven patients had Group I tumors, all of which were surgically resected; 10 of the 11 lesions were proven to be low-grade gliomas. These patients had an excellent prognosis; 10 of the 11 survived, with a mean follow-up period of 4.5 years. There were 18 patients with Group II(a) tumors; although tumor biopsy was attempted on eight of these, pathological diagnosis at the time of surgery was made in only one case. These patients did poorly; the mean survival time was 6.2 months. The seven Group II(b) tumor patients demonstrated a similarly poor prognosis: all of them died within 23 months of diagnosis, with a mean survival time of 12 months. Only two of six patients undergoing biopsy had sufficient tissue for histological verification. Three of the four patients with Group III tumors died; their mean survival time was 11.5 months. Successful histological examination was carried out in all four cases. The nine Group IV tumor patients did reasonably well; seven of these patients remain alive, with a mean follow-up period of 2.3 years. Histological diagnosis was obtained in three of the seven patients who were explored in this group. This classification system has proven to be of value in determining prognosis and efficacy of surgical intervention.

Arteriovenous malformations in the posterior fossa

1977 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Matsumura ◽  
Yasumasa Makita ◽  
Kuniyuki Someda ◽  
Akinori Kondo
Keyword(s):  
Arteriovenous Malformation ◽  
Brain Stem ◽  
Posterior Fossa ◽  
Arteriovenous Malformations ◽  
Cerebellopontine Angle ◽  
Anterior Part ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Fine Print

✓ We have operated on 12 of 14 cases of arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in the posterior fossa since 1968, with one death. The lesions were in the cerebellum in 10 cases (three anteromedial, one central, three lateral, and three posteromedial), and in the cerebellopontine angle in two; in two cases the lesions were directly related to the brain stem. The AVM's in the anterior part of the cerebellum were operated on through a transtentorial occipital approach.

Neurosurgical management of low-grade astrocytoma of the cerebral hemispheres

1984 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 665-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward R. Laws ◽  
William F. Taylor ◽  
Marvin B. Clifton ◽  
Haruo Okazaki
Keyword(s):  
Neurological Deficit ◽  
Important Variable ◽  
Surgical Removal ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Survival Times ◽  
Duration Of Symptoms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Fine Print

✓ The authors conducted a retrospective review of surgically treated, histologically proven cases of low-grade (Grade 1 or 2) astrocytomas. Follow-up analysis, with survival time as the end-point, was completed using multivariant statistical analysis. In the 461 cases of supratentorial low-grade astrocytoma in this study, age of the patient at the time of surgery was by far the most important variable in predicting length of survival. Other variables correlating with increasing survival times were: gross total surgical removal, lack of major preoperative neurological deficit, long duration of symptoms prior to surgery, seizures as a presenting symptom, lack of major postoperative neurological deficit, and surgery performed in recent decades. The multi-variant regression analysis showed that radiation therapy was of clear benefit, primarily in older patients with incompletely removed tumors. For purposes of establishing prognosis and testing the results, a “score” was developed to predict survival times, based on the most important variables. The data in this study provide a basis for the analysis of future modes of management of low-grade gliomas.

Cervical spinal cord in experimental hydrocephalus

1972 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 538-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Dohrmann
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Brain Stem ◽  
Cervical Spinal Cord ◽  
Central Canal ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Experimental Hydrocephalus ◽  
Physiological Pressure ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Shunting Procedure ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Adult dogs were rendered hydrocephalic by the injection of kaolin into the cisterna magna. One group of dogs was sacrificed 1 month after kaolin administration, and ventriculojugular shunts were performed on the other group. Hydrocephalic dogs with shunts were sacrificed 1 day or 1 week after the shunting procedure. All dogs were perfused with formalin at physiological pressure, and the brain stem and cervical spinal cord were examined by light microscopy. Subarachnoid granulomata encompassed the superior cervical spinal cord and dependent surface of the brain stem. Rarefaction of the posterior white columns and clefts or cavities involving the gray matter posterior to the central canal and/or posterior white columns were present in the spinal cords of both hydrocephalic and shunted hydrocephalic dogs. Predominantly in the dogs with shunts, hemorrhages were noted in the spinal cord in association with the clefts or cavities. A mechanism of ischemia followed by reflow of blood is postulated to explain the hemorrhages in the spinal cords of hydrocephalic dogs with shunts.

The long-term results of gamma knife radiosurgery for hemangioblastomas of the brain

2005 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 225-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
En-Min Wang ◽  
Li Pan ◽  
Bing-Jiang Wang ◽  
Nan Zhang ◽  
Liang-Fu Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Knife ◽  
Tumor Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Prescription Dose ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Vhl Disease ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Fine Print

Object. The authors assessed the long-term result of gamma knife surgery (GKS) for hemangioblastomas of the brain (HABs) and show histopathological findings after GKS. Methods. Thirty-five patients, 28 men and seven women, with a mean age of 36 years underwent GKS. Eighteen patients presented with multiple tumors and 17 with a solitary tumor. Twenty-one patients had von Hippel—Lindau (VHL) disease. The mean tumor diameter was 13 mm (range 5–55 mm). The mean follow up after GKS was 66 months (range 24–114 months). The mean prescription dose was 17.2 Gy (range 12–24 Gy) at the tumor margin. For tumors close to or within the brainstem a prescription dose of 12 to 13 Gy was used. At the most recent follow up, 29 patients were alive, six were dead, and satisfactory tumor control had been achieved in 29. A stable or improved neurological status was obtained in 21 patients. Eight patients underwent open surgery because of tumor-associated cyst enlargement or the development of new tumors after GKS. Seven patients developed new tumors and five of them required a second GKS. The 1-year tumor control rate was 94%; 2 years, 85%; 3 years, 82%; 4 years, 79%; and 5 years, 71%. Histopathology showed that no tumor cells were found and there was degeneration and necrosis in a tumor nodule 48 months after GKS with a prescription dose of 18 Gy. Conclusions. Gamma knife surgery was a useful choice for small- or medium-sized, solid HAB in the long term, especially when the tumor margin dose was 18 Gy. Although GKS can treat multiple tumors in a single session, for HABs associated with VHL disease, GKS faces the dual problems of tumor recurrence or development of a new tumor.

Focal brain-stem astrocytomas causing symptoms of involvement of the facial nerve nucleus: long-term survival in six pediatric cases

1994 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. B. Edwards ◽  
William M. Wara ◽  
Samuel F. Ciricillo ◽  
A. James Barkovich
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Therapy ◽  
Facial Nerve ◽  
Brain Stem ◽  
Pilocytic Astrocytoma ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Brain Stem Glioma ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma ◽  
Nerve Nucleus

✓ Six children with a history of isolated facial nerve dysfunction or dizziness and nausea were treated for brain-stem glioma between 1984 and 1992. Computerized tomography and/or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging showed a focal, uniformly enhancing mass involving the facial nerve nucleus of the pons. All patients underwent biopsy; the histological diagnosis was juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma in five cases. In the remaining case the biopsy was nondiagnostic, although the surgeon believed that the lesion was a glioma. Postoperatively, five patients underwent conventional focal megavoltage radiation therapy (180 to 200 cGy/day) over a period of 5½ weeks to a total dose of approximately 5400 cGy. One child's family refused radiation therapy; she remained well and stable for 4 years, despite persistent facial weakness, and was eventually lost to follow-up review. Four irradiation-treated patients had complete resolution of their tumors on MR images and have had no evidence of neuropsychological or neuroendocrinological deficits during 4½ to 8 years of follow-up evaluation. Patients whose neuroradiological studies show a lesion resembling those in this series should undergo biopsy and, if the histology of a low-grade tumor (in particular, a juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma) is confirmed, should then receive focal radiation therapy with conventional megavoltage dosages.

Cerebral cysticercosis with aqueductal obstruction

1980 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tung Pui Poon ◽  
Edward J. Arida ◽  
Wolodymyr P. Tyschenko
Keyword(s):  
Intracranial Hypertension ◽  
Brain Stem ◽  
Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus ◽  
Signs And Symptoms ◽  
Normal Pressure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Neurological Signs ◽  
Cerebral Cysticercosis ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Fine Print

✓ The authors report a case of cerebral cysticercosis which presented with generalized nonspecific neurological signs and symptoms attributed to acute aqueductal obstruction, with concomitant intracranial hypertension. These were characteristic intracranial calcifications along with angiographically demonstrated signs of hydrocephalus. Contrast encephalography clearly demonstrated aqueductal obstruction. Pathologically, the aqueductal obstruction was shown to be due to parasitic invasion of the brain stem with compression of the aqueduct. The presence of typical intracranial calcification in conjunction with either obstructive or normal-pressure hydrocephalus should alert the observer to the possibility of cerebral cysticercosis.

Long-term outcome in 132 consecutive patients after posterior internal fixation and fusion for Grade I and II isthmic spondylolisthesis

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Wenger ◽  
Nicola Sapio ◽  
Thomas-Marc Markwalder
Keyword(s):  
Internal Fixation ◽  
Posterior Instrumentation ◽  
Neurological Dysfunction ◽  
Leg Pain ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Isthmic Spondylolisthesis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fine Print

Object. The authors assessed the late outcome of patients with Meyerding Grade I and II isthmic spondylolisthesis (IS) who underwent posterior instrumentation and posterolateral fusion (PLF). Decompression and posterior internal fixation with PLF is the classic surgical treatment for painful low-grade IS. Nevertheless, outcome data are scarce and of limited value mainly because they represent small numbers of patients, short follow-up periods, or both. Methods. The authors obtained data in the cases of 132 consecutive adult patients (mean age 40.6 years, range 15.2–69.9 years) with IS who underwent treatment between 1984 and 2003. Assessment involved analysis of responses to mailed questionnaires, clinical charts and, in cases in which unsatisfactory results were suspected, results of clinical reevaluations. Spondylolisthesis was present at L3–4 in three patients, L4–5 in 14, L3–4 in one, L3–5 in one, L5—S1 in 113, and S1–2 in one. Signs and symptoms included back and leg pain (65.3%), leg pain alone (26.3%), back pain alone (8.4%), and neurological dysfunction (18%). At a mean follow-up duration of 9.9 years (range 0.5–19.4 years), favorable results were reported for back and leg pain in 91.7 and 87.1% of patients, respectively. The mean visual analog scale scores were 2.13 for back and 1.59 for leg pain. Eighty-four patients resumed full- or part-time work, and 56.8% were capable of performing housework more easily. In 45.5% of the patients analgesic medications were not required, and 43.9% required them sporadically. The majority (63.6%) of patients reported they would undergo surgery again and recommended it to others. Thirteen (9.9%) suffered adjacent-segment morbidity, and in seven (5.3%) pseudarthrosis was documented. There were two deep and one superficial infections (2.3%). Conclusions. Posterior instrumentation and PLF, with possible neurodecompression, yielded favorable long-term results in this retrospective study of 132 patients with low-grade IS.

Long-term outcome of hypothalamic/chiasmatic astrocytomas in children treated with conservative surgery

1995 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie N. Sutton ◽  
Patricia T. Molloy ◽  
Heidi Sernyak ◽  
Joel Goldwein ◽  
Peter L. Phillips ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radical Surgery ◽  
Conservative Surgery ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Term Outcome ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Long Term Outcome ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fine Print

✓ The feasibility of radical surgery for astrocytomas of the optic chiasm/hypothalamus has been reported by several groups. Such surgery carries significant risks, however, including permanent damage to the pituitary gland, optic apparatus, hypothalamic structures, and carotid arteries. The benefits of radical surgery, both in terms of efficacy and toxicity, should, therefore, be evaluated against standard therapy, as is usually done for new chemotherapeutic protocols. To this end, a retrospective review was performed of 33 patients treated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia between 1976 and 1991 who met criteria that would have made them eligible for radical surgery in many centers today, but were treated with either no surgery or conservative surgery (< 50% resection) or biopsy followed by adjuvant therapy with local radiation therapy (29 patients) and/or chemotherapy with actinomycin-D and vincristine (18 patients). The review encompassed all children with a globular enhancing mass of at least 2 cm in the hypothalamic/chiasmatic region, no evidence of optic nerve involvement or involvement of the optic radiations by computerized tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, and follow up of at least 3 years. All but one patient had tissue confirmation of a low-grade or pilocytic astrocytoma. Thirteen of the patients were 2 years of age or younger at diagnosis. Five individuals died: three of tumor progression, one of acute shunt malfunction, and one of intercurrent infection. The remaining 28 were alive at last follow up, a mean of 10.9 years from diagnosis. Twenty-three surviving patients have functional vision in at least one eye, 12 require no endocrine replacement, and 16 are in or have completed schooling with regular academic requirements. If radical surgery is to become standard care for children with low-grade astrocytomas of the hypothalamic/chiasmatic region, long-term survival and functional outcome will have to equal or surpass those of historical controls who were treated conservatively.

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