Morbidity in 201 patients with small sized meningioma treated by microsurgery.

BACKGROUND: The management of patients with small, often asymptomatic meningiomas is controversial and includes observation, microsurgery (MS) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). The purpose of this retrospective study was to analyze the morbidity and the extent of removal after MS for small (< or =3 cm) intracranial meningiomas and compare these results to those of SRS reported in the literature. METHODS: All patients with an intracranial meningioma with a maximum diameter up to 3 cm operated on in our institution over a 10 year period (1992-2002) were included in the study and retrospectively analyzed. Patients were grouped into asymptomatic and symptomatic and according to tumor location as: group I (cranial vault, parasagittal, lateral sphenoid), group II (falx, frontobasal, medial sphenoid, parasellar and tentorial), group III (cavernous sinus, petroclival, petrosal, CPA and foramen magnum). FINDINGS: There were a total of 201 patients, of whom 102 were asymptomatic and 99 were symptomatic. The overall risk of permanent neurological morbidity was 4.9% in asymptomatic and 23.2% in symptomatic patients. The combined risk in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients was 5.4% in group I, 11.5% in group II, and 39.9% in group III lesions. Radical removal was achieved in all patients in group I, in 93.7% of group II, and 80% of group III lesions. There was no disease related mortality. CONCLUSIONS: MS provides excellent efficacy and morbidity results in groups I and II meningiomas, especially in asymptomatic patients and might therefore be considered the first choice of treatment for these patients. The results of MS in group III were worse than those of SRS reported in the literature.

[Radiotherapy of rectal carcinoma]. / Strahlentherapie beim Rektumkarzinom.

Approximately 2% of the Swiss population will develop rectal carcinoma during their lifetime. Most important prognostic factors are TNM category and quality of the surgical procedure. In advanced rectal carcinoma postoperative combined radio-chemotherapy reduces the rate of local recurrence by at least 50 percent and leads to a survival benefit of ca. 10-20%. However, preoperative radiotherapy (+/- chemotherapy) should be the treatment of choice as an adjunct to surgery, especially in cases of deep seated or fixed carcinomas. Intraoperative RT represents a promising modality in situations where a histologically complete excision of the tumor seems impossible.

[The "LINAC Knife": stereotactic radiotherapy with a linear accelerator]. / Das "Linac-Knife": Stereotaktische Strahlenchirurgie mit einem Linearbeschleuniger.

Stereotactic radiosurgery stands for a high precision irradiation concept, which allows to deliver a high dose of ionizing radiation to the tumor volume. The characteristic steep dose fall-off immediately outside the target volume enables the selective destruction of small intracranial tumors while sharply minimizing the dose to the surrounding healthy tissue. This treatment modality is non-invasive and in general well tolerated with minimal side-effects. Especially for palliative concepts the short treatment time is of great importance.

[Age dependence of kidney function]. / Altersabhängigkeit der Nierenfunktion.

Although kidney function is immature in infants and decreases with increasing age in adults, when assessing the kidney clearance, it is not common to make an adjustment for age. On the other hand, correction for the standard body surface is generally accepted. Previous studies have yielded contradictory results, probably due to the small numbers of patients studied. To obtain the statistically significant relationship between age and kidney clearance, we compiled more than 1000 studies. These studies were divided into three groups: (1) children under 2 years of age (n = 71); (2) children and adolescents from 2 to 15 years (n = 64 male/58 female); (3) adults (n = 474 male/424 female; age: 16-80 years). Total clearance determinations were only considered if there were no differences between the two kidneys and if there was no obstruction of micturition or other pathological findings. Surprisingly, the statistical analysis showed no differences in clearance values between sexes. The maximal clearance values were found in the groups with children about 8 years old and the greatest scatter of values was seen in children under 2 years of age (a discrepancy between maturation age and calendar age). The complete set of data was based on the presumption that continuous function consisting of three trunks describes the course of normal kidney clearance in relation to patient age. If one determines an arbitrary reference value (e.g., 25 years), correction factors can easily be derived from the function described in order to compare individual clearance with a normal value.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Implantation of UV-absorbing posterior chamber lenses]. / Zur Implantation UV-absorbierender Hinterkammerlinsen.

The authors report on their experience with UV-absorbent posterior chamber IOLs (ORC) implanted between April 1, 1984 and April 1, 1985 (n = 125). Short-term complications and in particular post-operative sterile uveitis, corresponded to those in a group (n = 135) who had had regular PMMA lenses implanted. While no significant lowering of glare perception could be proved after implantation of the UV-block-lenses, color perception seemed to be more correct with these lenses. Because of the short observation time no significant statements can be made regarding the frequency of cystoid macular edema.