Clinical characteristics associated with the intracranial dissemination of gliomas.

OBJECTIVES: Glioma is the most common malignant tumor of the brain and the intracranial dissemination of gliomas is the late stage of the development of the tumor. However, there is little research in literature on the occurrence of intracranial dissemination of gliomas. In order to provide a reference for clinical work, we carried out this study on intracranial dissemination of glioma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 629 patients with gliomas received tumor resection by the same surgeon from August 2010 to September 2015 were included in this study. The authors performed a retrospective review of the patients and the information regarding clinical features, histopathological results, molecular pathologic results and clinical outcomes was collected and analyzed. RESULTS: In this retrospective study, we found that the intracranial dissemination phenomenon occurred in 53 patients (8.43%). We analyzed the clinical characteristics of patients and found that the age at diagnosis (P = 0.011), WHO grade of the tumor (P < 0.001), and involvement of the corpus callosum (P = 0.010) were associated with the occurrence of dissemination. The higher grade of the tumor, the more prone to disseminate. Deletion of 1p/19q had no significant correlation with the intracranial dissemination. MMP9, Ki-67, and EGFR were highly expressed in tumor cells that caused dissemination, and the level of Ki-67 expression had significance in statistics (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: In our study, older age (>40 years), high pathological grade, invasion of the corpus callosum and high levels of Ki-67 expression were risk factors associated with the intracranial dissemination of gliomas.

Delayed postoperative hemorrhage in 21 patients with intracranial epidermoid cysts.

OBJECT: Intracranial epidermoid cysts are rare, potentially curable, benign lesions that are sometimes associated with severe postoperative complications, including hemorrhage. Delayed hemorrhage, defined as one that occurred after an initial unremarkable postoperative CT scan, contributed to most cases of postoperative hemorrhage in patients with epidermoid cyst. In this study, the authors focus on delayed hemorrhage as one of the severe postoperative complications in epidermoid cyst, report its incidence and its clinical features, and analyze related clinical parameters. METHODS: There were 428 cases of intracranial epidermoid cysts that were surgically treated between 2002 and 2008 in Beijing Tiantan Hospital, and these were retrospectively reviewed. Among them, the cases with delayed postoperative hemorrhage were chosen for analysis. Clinical parameters were recorded, including the patient's age and sex, the chief surgeon's experience in neurosurgery, the year in which the operation was performed, tumor size, adhesion to neurovascular structures, and degree of resection. These parameters were compared in patients with and without delayed postoperative hemorrhage to identify risk factors associated with this entity. RESULTS: The incidences of postoperative hemorrhage and delayed postoperative hemorrhage in patients with epidermoid cyst were 5.61% (24 of 428) and 4.91% (21 of 428), respectively, both of which were significantly higher than that of postoperative hemorrhage in all concurrently treated intracranial tumors, which was 0.91% (122 of 13,479). The onset of delayed postoperative hemorrhage ranged from the 5th to 23rd day after the operation; the median time of onset was the 8th day. The onset manifestation included signs of intracranial hypertension and/or meningeal irritation (71.4%), brain herniation (14.3%), seizures (9.5%), and syncope (4.8%). Neuroimages revealed hematoma in 11 cases and subarachnoid hemorrhage in 10 cases. The rehemorrhage rate was 38.1% (8 of 21). The mortality rate for delayed postoperative hemorrhage was 28.6% (6 of 21). None of the clinical parameters was correlated with delayed postoperative hemorrhage (p > 0.05), despite a relatively lower p value for adhesion to neurovascular structures (p = 0.096). CONCLUSIONS: Delayed postoperative hemorrhage contributed to most of the postoperative hemorrhages in patients with intracranial epidermoid cysts and was a unique postoperative complication with unfavorable outcomes. Adhesion to neurovascular structures was possibly related to delayed postoperative hemorrhage (p = 0.096).

The application of ultrasound in the management of cerebral arteriovenous malformation.

Ultrasound is used in the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Several parameters including flow velocity, flow volume, resistance index, pulsatility index, vasomotor reactivity and their influencing factors are reviewed. The applications of ultrasound in the preoperative evaluation, intraoperative monitor and postoperative follow-up of AVM, are summarized. Although some limits exist, ultrasound can provide more reliable information about AVM, if lesions are classified according to their characteristics, compared in different conditions between preoperation and postoperation, feeding and non-feeding side, patients and healthy adults, and if ultrasound method is combined with other examinations and different developed ultrasound techniques. With the appearance and development of new ultrasound technique, its application will be wider in management of AVM.

[Diagnosis and therapy of intracavernosal cavernous hemangioma].

OBJECTIVE: To study the diagnosis and therapy of intracavernosal cavernous hemangioma. METHODS: The clinical data, including pathology, epidemiology, medical imaging, operation procedure, and post-operational complication, of 43 intracavernosal cavernous hemangioma patients undergoing operations in Tiantan Hospital 1996 to 2003 were analyzed. Frontotemporal craniotomy, frontal craniotomy, and combined fronto-temporal preauricular subtemporal approach were used for the 43 patients. RESULTS: The male/female ratio of these cases was 1:2.58. The average age of onset was 44.28 (11 approximately 67). The initial symptoms included headache, diminution of vision, paralysis of occulomotor nerve, ambiopia, facial pain or numbness epilepsy, etc. Although showing no specific typical feature, MRI still helped in diagnosis. The tumor was totally removed in 22 cases, subtotally removed in 11 cases, and partially removed in 10 cases. The main post-operational complications included oculomotor nerve paralysis (16 cases), abducent nerve paralysis (10 cases), and facial nerve paralysis (3 cases). No postoperative death occurred. CONCLUSION: Operation is still the best choice for intracavernosal cavernous hemangioma patients.