Giant intracranial and extracranial cavernous malformation

1998 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Voelker ◽  
Daniel H. Stewart ◽  
Sydney S. Schochet

✓ Massive enlargement of an extracerebral cavernous malformation and extension across tissue planes is very uncommon. The authors present the case of a 49-year-old woman with a giant cavernous malformation in the left frontotemporal area. It progressively enlarged during several decades, extended through the calvaria to the extradural space, and was surgically treated. The lesion may have originated in the soft tissue or the skull. The locations of cavernous malformations in various parts of the body are reviewed and their mechanisms of growth are discussed. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice.

1998 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Larson ◽  
William S. Ball ◽  
Kevin E. Bove ◽  
Kerry R. Crone ◽  
John M. Tew

Object. Radiation is a common treatment modality for pediatric brain tumors. The authors present a retrospective review of six children who developed cerebral cavernous malformations after they underwent radiation treatment for central nervous system (CNS) neoplasia and propose two possible models to explain the formation of cavernous malformations. Methods. Three boys, aged 13, 9, and 17 years, suffered intracerebral hemorrhages from cerebral cavernous malformations 87, 94, and 120 months, respectively, after they received whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for acute lymphocytic leukemia. A 10-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man developed temporal lobe cavernous malformations 46 and 48 months, respectively, after they received radiation therapy for posterior fossa astrocytomas. A 12-year-old girl developed a temporal lobe cavernous malformation 45 months after WBRT was administered for a medulloblastoma. In all of these cases the cavernous malformation appeared in the irradiated field, was not known to be present prior to radiation therapy, and developed after a latency period following treatment. The incidence of cavernous malformations in these patients suggests that children who undergo radiation therapy of the brain may have an increased risk of hemorrhage. Conclusions. Two possible models may explain the formation of cavernous malformations following brain radiation in these patients. First, the cavernous malformations may form de novo in response to the radiation. Second, the cavernous malformations may have been present, but radiographically occult, at the time of radiation therapy and may have hemorrhaged in response to the radiation. The authors conclude that cavernous malformations may develop after brain radiation and propose a possible mechanism for this formation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Kamezawa ◽  
Jun-Ichiro Hamada ◽  
Masaki Niiro ◽  
Yutaka Kai ◽  
Koichi Ishimaru ◽  
...  

Object. The authors reviewed angiograms obtained in patients with cavernous malformations to identify and characterize coexisting venous drainage. Methods. Fifty-seven patients with cavernous malformations treated at the authors' institutions between 1994 and 2002 were classified into three groups according to the venous system adjacent to the malformation on angiography studies. In Group A patients (23 patients) the malformations had no venous drainage; in Group B patients (14 patients) the lesions were associated with typical venous malformations; and in Group C patients (20 patients) the lesions had atypical venous drainage (AVD). The risk of hemorrhage based on the type of associated venous drainage was analyzed, and the usefulness of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging compared with digital subtraction (DS) angiography in demonstrating associated AVD was determined. Fifty-seven patients harbored 67 cavernous malformations: Group A patients had 29 cavernous malformations with no associated venous drainage; Group B patients had 17 lesions associated with venous malformations; and Group C patients harbored 21 lesions, 20 of which manifested AVD. Symptomatic hemorrhage was present in 10 (43.5%) of 23 Group A patients and in 28 (82.4%) of 34 Groups B and C patients. Although high-resolution MR imaging revealed the presence of associated venous malformations in 11 (78.6%) of 14 Group B patients, such studies demonstrated AVD in only two (10%) of 20 Group C patients. Conclusions. Patients harboring cavernous malformations plus venous malformations or AVD are more likely to present with symptomatic hemorrhage than are patients with cavernous malformation alone. The actual incidence of associated venous drainage may be underestimated when MR imaging alone is used rather than combined with DS angiography.


1991 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S. Zimmerman ◽  
Robert F. Spetzler ◽  
K. Stuart Lee ◽  
Joseph M. Zabramski ◽  
Ronald W. Hargraves

✓ Once they become symptomatic, cavernous malformations of the brain stem appear to cause progressive morbidity from repetitive hemorrhage, and can even be fatal. Twenty-four patients with long-tract and/or cranial nerve findings from their cavernous malformations of the brain stem were seen for initial evaluation or surgical consultation and thereafter received either surgical or continued conservative treatment. The decision to operate was based on the proximity of the cavernous malformation to the pial surface of the brain stem, the patient's neurological status, and the number of symptomatic episodes. Sixteen patients were treated by definitive surgery directed at excision of their malformation. In four patients, associated venous malformations influenced the surgical approach and their recognition avoided the risk of inappropriate excision of the venous malformation. Although some of the 16 patients had transient, immediate, postoperative worsening of their neurological deficits, the outcome of all except one was the same or improved. Only one patient developed recurrent symptoms: a new deficit 2½ years after surgery required reoperation after regrowth of the cavernous malformation. She has been neurologically stable since the second surgery. One patient died 6 months postoperatively from a shunt infection and sepsis. The eight conservatively treated patients are followed with annual magnetic resonance imaging studies. One has a dramatic associated venous malformation. Seven patients have either minor intermittent or no symptoms, and the eighth died from a hemorrhage 1 year after his initial presentation. Based on these results, surgical extirpation of symptomatic cavernous malformations of the brain stem appears to be the treatment of choice when a patient is symptomatic, the lesion is located superficially, and an operative approach can spare eloquent tissue. When cavernous malformations of the brain stem are completely excised, cure appears permanent.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han-Jung Chen ◽  
Cheng-Loong Liang ◽  
Kang Lu

Object. Transthoracic endoscopic T2–3 sympathectomy is currently the treatment of choice for palmar hyperhidrosis. Compensatory sweating of the face, trunk, thigh, and sole of the foot was found in more than 50% of patients who underwent this procedure. The authors conducted this study to investigate the associated intraoperative changes in plantar skin temperature and postoperative plantar sweating. Methods. One hundred patients with palmar hyperhidrosis underwent bilateral transthoracic endoscopic T2–3 sympathectomy. There were 60 female and 40 male patients who ranged in age from 13 to 40 years (mean age 21.6 years). Characteristics studied included changes in palmar and plantar skin temperature measured intraoperatively, as well as pre- and postoperative changes in plantar sweating and sympathetic skin responses (SSRs). In 59 patients (59%) elevation of plantar temperature was demonstrated at the end of the surgical procedure. In this group, plantar sweating was found to be exacerbated in three patients (5%); plantar sweating was improved in 52 patients (88.1%); and no change was demonstrated in four patients (6.8%). In the other group of patients in whom no temperature change occurred, increased plantar sweating was demonstrated in three patients (7.3%); plantar sweating was improved in 20 patients (48.8%); and no change was shown in 18 patients (43.9%). The difference between temperature and sweating change was significant (p = 0.001). Compared with the presympathectomy rate, the rate of absent SSR also significantly increased after sympathectomy: from 20 to 76% after electrical stimulation and 36 to 64% after deep inspiration stimulation, respectively (p < 0.05). Conclusions. In contrast to compensatory sweating in other parts of the body after T2–3 sympathetomy, improvement in plantar sweating was shown in 72% and worsened symptoms in 6% of patients. The intraoperative plantar skin temperature change and perioperative SSR demonstrated a correlation between these changes.


1976 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 748-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed N. Gonem

✓ A case of osteoclastoma arising in the body of the T-9 vertebra is presented. Osteoclastoma rarely involves the vertebrae, and treatment, whether by surgery or radiotherapy, seldom results in eradication of the lesion or prevention of recurrence.


1975 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward L. Katz

✓ The results of radical surgical excision of craniopharyngiomas in children operated on by Dr. Donald Matson beginning in 1950 are presented. The patients are analyzed in regard to survival and quality of survival. While 22 of 34 children so treated at the initial operation are presently alive and tumor-free, high mortality and morbidity followed in cases where reoperation was performed. Properly treated endocrinological deficits need not be a serious problem, but persistent hyperosmolality carried a grave prognosis. No predictive criteria are yet available to determine which tumors are amenable to radical surgical excision.


1999 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann M. Ritter ◽  
R. Scott Graham ◽  
Barbara Amaker ◽  
William C. Broaddus ◽  
Harold F. Young

✓ Eccrine porocarcinoma is a rare malignant tumor of the true sweat gland. It commonly presents in the lower extremities with lymphatic metastasis. The authors describe the clinical presentation, radiographic evidence, operative discoveries, and pathological findings in a patient with an eccrine porocarcinoma involving the soft tissue of the occiput, which had eroded through the cranium. A review of the literature failed to reveal any other such case. The discussion includes the epidemiology, pathogenesis, treatment, and outcome of eccrine porocarcinomas. The six reported cases of scalp eccrine tumors are reviewed.


1989 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 486-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rakesh Kumar ◽  
Charles G. H. West ◽  
James E. Gillespie

✓ This case report describes a patient with sciatica resulting from lumbar root compression by a gas-containing cyst in the extradural space. Removal of the cyst provided prompt relief. The origin and anatomic distribution of gas collections in the spine are considered based on a review of the literature.


1998 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 521-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Pencalet ◽  
Christian Sainte-Rose ◽  
Arielle Lellouch-Tubiana ◽  
Chantal Kalifa ◽  
Francis Brunelle ◽  
...  

Object. Choroid plexus tumors are rare intraventricular tumors (1% of all intracranial tumors) that occur mainly in children. The pathophysiological characteristics of associated hydrocephalus, surgical management, and oncological issues related to these tumors remain a matter of debate. To understand more about these tumors, the authors have reviewed their experience with the management of 38 children with choroid plexus tumors. Methods. There were 25 cases of papilloma and 13 of carcinoma. The mean age of the patients at presentation was 22.5 months, and one-half of the patients were younger than 2 years of age. Hydrocephalus was present in 33 patients and poorly correlated with the size, site, and pathological characteristics of the tumor. In nine children, a ventriculoperitoneal shunt was required after tumor excision, calling into question the notion that cerebrospinal fluid oversecretion is the only cause of hydrocephalus. Complete excision was achieved in 96% of the cases of papilloma and 61.5% of the cases of carcinoma. These surgical procedures were complicated by the risks of intraoperative hemorrhage, which proved to be fatal in two cases, and postoperative brain collapse, which led to subdural fluid collections requiring subdural shunt placement in six patients. Preoperative embolization was partially successful in four cases and significantly assisted surgery. Preoperative controlled drainage of excessively dilated ventricles and intraoperative gluing of the cortical incision have been used to address the problem of postoperative brain collapse. Patients with carcinomas were treated postoperatively by chemotherapy alone (seven cases), radiotherapy (one case), or chemotherapy plus radiotherapy (one case). The overall 5-year survival rate was 100% for patients with papillomas and 40% for those with carcinomas. Conclusions. Total surgical excision is curative in cases of papillomas. For carcinomas, the most effective treatment remains total surgical excision; however, adjuvant treatment in the form of chemotherapy in patients younger than age 3 years, supplemented by radiation therapy in older children, can moderately reduce the risk of recurrence.


1993 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dudley H. Davis ◽  
Edward R. Laws ◽  
Duane M. Ilstrup ◽  
James K. Speed ◽  
Michela Caruso ◽  
...  

✓ The results of surgical therapy for acromegaly were reviewed in a series of 175 patients treated between 1972 and 1983. Patients with prior surgery or radiation therapy were excluded from the study. Postoperative radiation therapy was given to 54 patients. The criterion of achieving a postoperative basal or glucose-suppressed growth hormone level of 2 ng/ml or less was used to indicate remission. Utilizing the most recently available growth hormone determinations, 90 (51.7%) of 174 patients were in remission. The actuarial probability of remission at 1 and 5 years after surgery was 48.8% and 62.7%, respectively. Tumor size and the preoperative basal growth hormone level were correlated with outcome. Surgical excision of a pituitary adenoma is the most effective therapy currently available for acromegaly.


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