Management of obstructive hydrocephalus before posterior fossa tumor resection in children / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the management of obstructive hydrocephalus caused by posterior fossa tumors before tumor resection in children.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data were reviewed of 162 pediatric patients of posterior fossa tumors with obstructive hydrocephalus undergoing surgical tumor removal between January 2008 and June 2012. Ninety children received preoperative Ommaya external drainage (group A) and 72 underwent preoperative ventriculo-peritoneal shunting (V-Ps) (group B). The therapeutic effects were evaluated and compared between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Postoperative complications found in a total of 67 cases including infection (27), shunt blockage (19), subdural hematoma or effusion (16), ventricle fissure syndrome (5), and tumor hernia (4). Significant differences were found in the incidences of shunt blockage (P=0.047) and subdural hematoma or effusion (P=0.039) but not in the incidences of intracranial infection (P=0.478) or tumor hernia (P=0.462) between the two groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Ommaya reservoir can produce good results through simple surgical procedures for treatment of acute hydrocephalus in children with posterior fossa tumors and is associated less trauma and complications.</p>

Treatment of acute traumatic subdural hematomas in infants / 中华创伤杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical features of acute traumatic subdural hematomas (SDH) in infants and discuss the treatment methods. Methods The clinical features of 48 infants under three years old with acute traumatic SDH admitted from 2002 to 2008 were retrospectively analyzed.Results There were 31 infants under one year old (65%). The most popular injury cause was accidental fall in 37 patients (77%). Of all patients, 12 patients (25%) had disturbance of consciousness,eight ( 17% ) had convulsion and eight ( 17% ) were combined with skull fractures. The treatment methods included craniotomy and evacuation of the blood clot in 18 patients ( including 13 patients underwent instant operation after admission ), burr hole craniotomy and external drainage of the chronic subdural hematoma in seven and conservative management in 23 with small subdural hematomas. All patients obtained good outcome except that two patients had motor dysfunction and one death. Conclusions The incidence of acute traumatic SDH in infants is high, especially in infants under one year old. It is easy to be disregarded at early stage and may deteriorate to chronic subdural hematoma or hydropsy. Early diagnosis and active surgical treatment may attain sound prognosis.