OBJECT Craniopharyngiomas frequently grow from remnants of the Rathke pouch, which is located on the cisternal surface of the hypothalamic region. These lesions can also extend elsewhere in the infundibulohypophyseal axis. The aim of this study was to establish the usefulness of the frontobasal approach made through a relatively small craniotomy window for the removal of tumors protruding from the sellar-suprasellar region into the third and basal cistern. METHODS Thirty-one patients who were surgically treated for craniopharyngiomas extending outside the sellar-suprasellar region were evaluated. The diagnoses were established in all cases by using magnetic resonance and computerized tomography imaging. The initial symptoms and signs were increased intracranial pressure in eight, vision impairment or visual field defect in 16, hypopituitarism in 17, and psychological disturbances in three cases. All patients underwent surgery via the frontobasal interhemispheric approach, and the average follow-up period was 30 months. Total removal of the lesion was achieved in 22 cases, six patients underwent subtotal resection, and three underwent partial removal due to tumor recurrence after previous surgeries performed with or without adjunctive radiotherapy. Major complications, including impairment of the cranial nerves, were not observed in the immediate postoperative period. One patient exhibited transient memory disturbance due to infarction of the perforating vessels; after 3 months this symptom was ameliorated. None of the patients died during long-term follow up; however, four of the 22 who underwent total removal and six of the nine patients who underwent subtotal or partial removal suffered recurrence. Of the 10 patients with recurrence, six experienced a small recurrence of the lesion (average 3 months postsurgery); after gamma knife surgery (GKS), the size of two of the lesions was unchanged and in four reoperation was performed due to tumor enlargement during the follow-up period. Ultimately, a total of eight patients (four with recurrence and four who had been treated with GKS) underwent reoperation, with gross-total removal via the same approach or combined with the orbitozygomatic approach in patients with very short optic nerves. In no patient was deterioration of visual acuity and visual field observed after surgery. Although all patients except four children and one adult were receiving some form of hormone replacement therapy, their endocrine status was stably controllable. CONCLUSIONS In the authors' experience, the frontobasal interhemispheric approach, even made through a small craniotomy window, is a valid choice for the removal of craniopharyngiomas extending outside the sellar-suprasellar region. Via this approach, tumors can be removed without significant sequelae related to the surgical method, due to ease of preservation of the pituitary stalk, hypothalamic structures, and perforating vessels. This approach offers a safe and minimally invasive means of treating craniopharyngiomas.

Objective: Craniopharyngiomas frequently grow from remnants of Rathke's pouch, located on the cisternal surface of the hypothalamic region. They can extend elsewhere in the infundibulo-hypophyseal axis. The aim of the present study was to establish the usefulness of the fronto-basal approach with a relatively small craniotomy window for the removal of tumors protruding from the sellar–suprasellar region to the third and basal cistern. Method: Thirty-one patients who were surgically treated for craniopharyngiomas extending outside the sellar–suprasellar region were evaluated. The diagnoses were established in all cases with magnetic resonance imaging and CT. The initial symptoms and signs were increased intracranial pressure in 17 patients, vision impairment or visual field defect in 15, hypopituitarism in 13, and psychological disturbances in 4 cases. All the patients were operated on by the fronto-basal interhemispheric approach, and the average follow-up period was 30 months. Results: Total removal of the lesion was achieved in 22 cases. Six patients underwent subtotal resection and 3 patients underwent partial removal due to recurrence after previous surgeries with or without radiotherapy. In the immediate postoperative period, major complications, including impairment of the cranial nerves, were not observed. One patient exhibited transient memory disturbance due to infarction of the perforator; after 3 months, this symptom was ameliorated. None of the patients died during long-term follow-up (average 30 months), however 4 of the 22 undergoing total removal and 6 of the 9 patients undergoing subtotal or partial removal suffered recurrence. Of the 10 patients with recurrence, 6 experienced a small recurrence of the lesion (average 3 months after surgery); after radiosurgery by gamma-knife, 2 of the lesions exhibited unchanged size and 4 underwent re-operation due to enlargement of the tumor in the follow-up period. Ultimately, a total of eight patients (four with recurrence and four gamma-knife-treated) underwent re-operation with gross total removal with the same approach or combined with the orbito-zygomatic approach for patients with very short optic nerves. All patients returned to a normal life. Conclusion: In our experience, the fronto-basal interhemispheric approach, even through a small craniotomy window, is a valid choice for the removal of craniopharyngiomas extending outside the sellar–suprasellar region. Using this approach, tumors can be removed without significant sequelae related to surgical technique due to easy preservation of the pituitary stalk, hypothalamic structures and perforators. This approach offers a safe and minimally invasive means of treating craniopharyngiomas.

The authors report a rare case of intracranial glass injury due to a temporal head injury. This 72-year-old man slipped on a bathroom floor, impacting a glass door with his head and right shoulder. His right temporal scalp and right shoulder were cut by the broken glass. He visited our emergency Unit four hours after sustaining the injury. Physical and neurological examinations showed no abnormalities except for two lacerated wounds on both the right temporal scalp (1.5cm) and the right shoulder skin (10cm). Foreign bodies were not palpable around the lacerated wounds. Skull X-ray and CT studies disclosed a single, 5-cm long, radiopaque foreign body penetrating the temporal skull bone into the right temporal lobe, but no evidence of intracranial bleeding was found. Under the diagnosis of intracranial glass injury, total removal of the foreign body with dural repair was carried out. On surgical exploration, glass penetrating the skull bone 5-min distant anteriorly to the scalp laceration was observed. Postoperative angiography showed no vascular lesions, and one-week later he was discharged with no complications. According to the literature, most of the intracranial foreign bodies occur around the orbital, the frontal sinus, and the nasal areas. TO our knowledge, this is the first report of an intracranial glass penetrating injury to the temporal lobe. Since the clinical manifestations occasionally do not correspond to the appearance of the laceration after glass penetrating injuries, serious caution concerning patients with intracranial glass penetrating injuries is important.

OBJECTCirculating blood volume (cBV) is reported to decrease in patients who suffer a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), but little is known about the correlation between changes in cBV, and patient clinical condition and time course after SAH, especially during the very acute stage. To determine appropriate management of patients with SAH, the authors measured cBV by using pulse spectrophotometry immediately after patient admission. They also evaluated whether the timing of surgery influenced changes in cBV.METHODSCirculating blood volume was measured in a total of 73 patients who were divided into the following three groups: Group A (very acute SAH) consisted of 14 SAH cases, Group B (acute SAH) included 34 SAH cases, and Group C (controls) included 25 other neurosurgical cases. All patients in Group A underwent aneurysm clipping within 6 hours after onset of SAH, whereas all patients in Group B underwent aneurysm clipping within 72 hours after onset. Hypervolemic therapy was not performed in patients with SAH. Before surgery, cBV was significantly lower in patients in Group B than in those in Group C, but there was no significant difference in this parameter when comparing Groups A and C. Although there was a transient drop in cBV in Group B patients for at least 3 days after surgery, there was no significant change in cBV in Group A patients during the study period. None of the Group A patients suffered from symptomatic vasospasm; however, four Group B patients did experience symptomatic vasospasm.CONCLUSIONSThe authors assert that normovolemic fluid management is appropriate for patients who undergo surgery during the very acute stage of SAH, whereas a relatively hypervolemic therapy is necessary for 3 to 5 days after operation to prevent early hypovolemia in patients who undergo surgery during the acute stage of SAH.

Summary. Summary. Background: Although pineal parenchymal tumours are very rare in elderly patients, we recently successfully treated a 72-year-old male patient. Interestingly, the histology of his pineal parenchymal tumour was mixed pineocytoma/pineoblastoma, which is reported to be extremely rare in aged patients. We present his clinical manifestations, follow-up MRI, surgical treatment, pathological findings, and review the literature. Clinical Material: This 72-year-old man had a mass in the pineal region detected 3 years previously on MRI in February 1996 following symptoms of headache and vertigo. Two years later, he experienced gait disturbance and disorientation. CT scans disclosed obstructive hydrocephalus, and ventriculo-peritoneal shunt placement was then performed. The tumour mass began to enlarge in July 1999 (at age 72). On October 13, 1999, total removal of the pineal region tumour was performed through an occipital transtentorial approach. The postoperative course was uneventful. The pathological diagnosis of the tumour was mixed pineocytoma/pineoblastoma. Conclusion: Pineal parenchymal tumours are uncommon in elderly patients, and mixed pineocytoma/pineoblastomas are particularly rare. We followed this patient closely for more than 3.5 years and finally performed total surgical removal of the tumour, with excellent outcome. The present case suggests that a mixed pineocytoma/pineoblastoma tumour is controllable even in elderly patients through careful evaluation and management.

We report a case of recurrent cerebellar abscess secondary to middle ear cholesteatoma. A 57-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of symptoms of headache and nausea in August, 1992. Brain CT scans revealed acute hydrocephalus complicated by a cerebellar abscess. The patient was discharged without any neurological deterioration after systemic antibiotics combined with intrathecal aminoglucoside administration via ventricular drainage. Mannitol was also administrated for 7 days immediately after the patient's admission. The clinical course was uneventful for 8 years afterwards. Follow-up MR images revealed no signs of recurrence. Unfortunately, the patient suffered a recurrence of cerebellar abscess in October, 2000. His condition continued to deteriorate in spite of being treated by systemic antibiototics. MR images and CT scans targeting a portion of his middle ear revealed extensive pus-coated mastoiditis and middle ear cholesteatoma. We thus performed radical mastoidectomy including removal of the middle ear cholesteatoma. After the operation, the cerebellar abscess was ameliorated. He has been free from recurrence for 2 years, so far. Early diagnosis and prompt intervention are necessary for reducing mortality and morbidity rates due to otogenic brain abscess. Recognizing middle ear cholesteatoma as one of the major causes of neurological entities in the cerebellopontine angle portion, accurate otological examination and prompt treatment can possibly bring about a better prognosis.

OBJECT:To determine the safety and usefulness of performing surgery via the occipital transtentorial approach to treat anterosuperior cerebellar tumors, evaluation of 14 patients was performed over a 5-year period.METHODS:The study was performed in 14 patients, aged 6 months to 71 years, who harbored anterosuperior cerebellar tumors of the posterior fossa including four hemangioblastomas, three cerebellar astrocytomas, three medulloblastomas, two metastatic tumors, one recurrent astrocytoma, and one rhabdoid cell tumor. All patients underwent surgical treatment by the same surgical team and via the same surgical approach. Endoscopy combined with neuronavigation was used for large, deep-seated tumors extending to the fourth ventricle. Of the 14 patients, total or gross-total removal was achieved in 12 patients and subtotal removal in two patients. There was no incidence of mortality or morbidity in the 14 patients, and all functional outcomes were good to excellent postoperatively. Postoperative magnetic resonance imaging revealed that none of the patients had suffered brain damage or infarction around the cerebellum, brainstem, or occipital lobe.CONCLUSIONS:Although this study was the first in which a specific examination of the efficacy of the occipital transtentorial approach in patients with anterosuperior cerebellar tumors was undertaken, our findings suggest that this surgical approach is very useful, safe, and accurate for removing the primary tumor and evaluating the surrounding anatomy, as well as for determining operative strategy.

Object. To determine the efficacy and accuracy of surgically-assisted systems including endoscopy combined with neuronavigation in the treatment of pineal region tumours through the occipital transtentorial approach, an evaluation of thirty-one patients undergoing surgery was performed over a 10-year period.Method. The study was performed in 2 parts. The surgical approach to the pineal region was the same in the two parts, but in part 2 a smaller craniotomy window was used. Part 1 (from March 1989 to March 1997) included 15 patients who underwent surgical removal of pineal region tumours without using assisted systems; four out of the fifteen patients had surgery-related complications, including seizure and hemianopsia. Part 2 (from April 1997 to February 1999) included 16 patients who underwent surgical treatment by the same surgical team and with assisted systems; all 16 patients had excellent outcomes, with no complications.Conclusions. Although this study was the first specifically to examine the efficacy of endoscopy combined with neuronavigation in the treatment of pineal region tumours, our findings suggest that these systems are very useful, safe, and accurate in evaluating the primary tumour and surrounding anatomy as well as in determining operative strategy, such as the location and size of the scalp incision, craniotomy, and the extent of surgical removal. Therefore, we conclude that the addition of endoscopy combined with neuronavigation to standard surgical procedures can improve the outcome of surgical treatment of pineal region tumours.