ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the administration of far lateral craniocervical approach in the jugular foramen (JF) tumors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective analysis was performed in 14 cases of JF tumors (9 neurilemmomas, 3 meningiomas, 1 glomus jugulare tumor, and 1 adenoid cystic carcinoma) surgically treated between January 2009 and January 2012, with focus on the surgical approach. Six patients (6/14) showed hydrocephalus. The tumor type was composed of 5 intracranial and intraforamen tumors with patent or occluded jugular bulb, 1 intracranial tumor with extension into the upper cervical canal, 4 extracranial and intra foramen tumors, 4 intra- and extracranial dumbbell-shaped communicating tumors involving the parapharyngeal space above C2 or extending caudally below C3. Far lateral postcondylar approach (FLPC) was carried out in 2 cases, far lateral tansjugular process approach (FLTJP) in 3 cases, combined FLPC + C1-2 semi-laminectomy approach in 1 case, combined FLTJP + trans-C1 transverse process approach in 7 cases, and combined FLTJP + neck approach with dissection of carotid sheath to the skull base in 1 case. Endovascular embolotherapy prior to surgical resection was performed in 1 glomus jugulare tumor.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Total tumor removal was achieved in 12 patients and subtotal removal in 2 patients, with no cerebrospinal fluid leakage or operative mortality. New cranial nerve paresis occurred after surgery in 1 case of facial nerve and 1 case of lower cranial nerve. Transient worsening of preoperative lower cranial nerve deficits was noted in 3 patients. Long-term follow-up study ranging from 5 to 32 months (average 13.7 months) showed 7 patients with lower cranial nerve deficits (6 preexisting and 1 new), with exception of one preoperative lower cranial nerve dysfunction due to the infiltration of an adenoid cystic carcinoma, experienced favorable improvement with recovery of adequate swallowing function, but voice disturbance remained in 4 cases. One patient with new facial nerve deficit presented with partial improvement and the hydrocephalus in 6 patients all spontaneously regressed. There was no tumor recurrence in patients receiving total removal and no tumor progression in patients undergoing subtotal removal.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>FLTJP is a basic approach for JF tumors. The combined cranial and cervical approach should be considered in those tumors extending into the upper cervical canal and parapharyngeal space. The associated hydrocephalus seldom requires additional surgical management.</p>
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Brain Neoplasms , General Surgery , Follow-Up Studies , Glomus Jugulare Tumor , General Surgery , Microsurgery , Retrospective Studies , Skull Base , General SurgeryABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the association between CSPG2 and HSPG2 gene polymorphisms and intracranial aneurysm (IA) in ethnic Han Chinese population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A case-control study was carried out. A total of 537 IA patients and 1071 normal controls with matched age and gender were recruited. Peripheral blood samples were obtained from all subjects. Following extraction, target DNA was amplified with PCR and genotyped with a SNaPshot method. The association between 2 tag SNPs (rs251124 and rs3767137) of CSPG2 and HSPG2 genes and IA was assessed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The genotype frequencies of rs251124 and rs3767137 were both in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. No significant difference has been found in the frequencies of rs251124 of CSPG2 between the two groups. Similarly, the frequency of rs3767137 (HSPG2) did not differ between the IA and control groups (P=0.22), albeit with an OR value of greater than 1 (OR=1.12, 95%CI=0.92-1.37). There were no significant difference in genotypic frequencies of the two SNPs between the two groups (P=0.46, 0.53).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>No association has been found between polymorphisms of rs251124 and rs3767137 loci of CSPG2 and HSPG2 genes and IA in the selected population.</p>