1/209. Microvascular reconstruction of the skull base: indications and procedures.PURPOSE: The aim of the current study was to review the use of free tissue transfer for reconstruction of the skull base and for coverage of intracranial contents. patients AND methods: From 1990 until 1996, revascularized flaps were transferred to the skull and the skull base in 11 patients in whom intracranial/extracranial resection of tumors of the skull base was performed in cooperation with the Department of neurosurgery. The defects resulted from removal of squamous cell carcinomas (n = 4), basal cell carcinomas (n = 4), malignant melanoma, malignant schwannoma, and malignant meningioma. Defect repair was accomplished by revascularized transfer of latissimus dorsi muscle flaps in seven cases and rectus abdominis flaps and forearm flaps in two cases each. In five patients with extensive intracranial tumor spread, reconstruction was performed for palliative reasons. RESULTS: A safe soft tissue closure of the intracranial and intradural space was achieved in all patients, whereas the contour of the facial skull and the neurocranium was satisfactorily restored at the same time. By using the entire length of the grafted muscle, the vascular pedicle could be positioned next to the external carotid artery and conveniently connected to the cervical vessels. The mean survival time of the patients with palliative treatment was 8.4 months, with an average duration of hospital stay of 24.5 days. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the increased surgical effort of revascularized tissue transfer, microvascular reconstruction of large skull base defects appears to be justified, even as a palliative measure.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/209. Early glial tumor metastases through a ventriculo-atrial shunt.A girl of 12 with a pontine polymorphous astrocytoma diffusely metastasizing to the spinal cord leptomeninges suddenly died 20 hours after the insertion of a right ventriculo-atrial shunt. Many severely damaged glial neoplastic cells were found in the blood vessels of the lung and liver.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 14.490104556102keywords = blood vessel, vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/209. Surgery of angiomas in the brainstem with a stress on the presence of telangiectasia.This report deals with the surgery of angiomas other than arteriovenous malformation in the brainstem. The surgical cases were three cavernomas, two telangiectasias, and two venous malformations. We performed surgery when an angioma bled and the resulting hematoma was situated near the surface of the brainstem or the fourth ventricle. The cases were operated on at the subacute or chronic stages after hemorrhage. Although a magnetic resonance (MR) image showed a subacute or chronic localized hematoma with a low intensity rim, the case was not always a cavernoma, but a telangiectasia. Cavernomas could be totally removed, but telangiectasia could not. In the cases of medullary venous malformation the diagnosis was obtained radiologically, and when the hematoma was large, only hematoma evacuation was performed. In all cases the postoperative Karnofsky scores were improved or unchanged. Postoperative rebleeding in the hematoma cavity continued insidiously in a case of telangiectasia. The abnormal vessels of telangiectasia in the brainstem were preoperatively not visualized by cerebral angiography or MR imaging, but became visualized by enhanced MR imaging after evacuation of hematoma in two cases. It is stressed that an angioma with a hematoma intensity core surrounded by a low intensity rim on MR images is not always a cavernoma, but possibly is a telangiectasia.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/209. Squash cytology of pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma mimicking glioblastoma. A case report.BACKGROUND: Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) is an uncommon, superficially located and well-circumscribed brain tumor that originates in astrocytic cells. Despite the fact that the tumor cells are pleomorphic, with bizarre nuclei, the clinical course is favorable. Cytologic and histologic differentiation from other high grade gliomas is necessary to determine adequate therapy during surgery. Cytomorphologic features of this tumor have been described only rarely. CASE: A 22-year-old male had complained of visual disturbance for about a year. Radiologic imaging revealed a well-circumscribed mass with cyst formation in the left temporal area. Squash specimens from fresh tissues were highly cellular. Tumor cells were markedly pleomorphic, with long and coarse cytoplasmic processes showing a fibrillary astrocytic appearance. Pleomorphic cells varied in shape from round to elongated and had large, multilobed, hyperchromatic nuclei but few nuclear mitoses. Sometimes eosinophilic granular bodies were also observed. blood vessels were found frequently in tumor cell clusters, but their endothelium was not swollen. In the background, considerable leukocytic infiltration, but no cellular debris, was observed. With immunohistochemical studies, most of the tumor cells were positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein and S-100 protein. Some of the mononuclear giant cells were positive for synaptophysin. CONCLUSION: Squash preparations showed the peculiar cytologic features of PXA. Together with the peculiar radiologic findings, the cytologic results make it possible to render a diagnosis of PXA.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/209. Falx meningioma presenting as acute subdural hematoma: case report.BACKGROUND: Acute subdural hematomas caused by meningiomas have been rarely encountered. Pathophysiologic mechanisms and clinical considerations in these patients have not been sufficiently explored. We addressed the possible mechanism of spontaneous hemorrhage in our case and briefly discuss the optimal treatment. CASE DESCRIPTION: This case of falx meningioma presenting as an acute subdural hematoma in a 78-year-old woman is described. On initial computed tomography (CT), an enhancing tumor of the falx appeared to be the cause of hemorrhage. Only faint contrast staining in the periphery of the tumor was seen on right external carotid arteriograms, with no evidence of other vascular supply. Extravasation of contrast material during the procedure occurred suddenly and was successfully treated by endovascular embolization using a microcatheter. The hematoma was emergently evacuated with gross total removal of the tumor. Pathologic examination confirmed a transitional meningioma with abundant hyalinized structures. Disruption of a thin-walled vessel adjacent to the tumor capsule was assumed to be the site of hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: The longstanding ischemia of the tumor was considered to have produced the deposition of hyalin in the tissue, which changed the hemodynamics within the tumor, producing vascular stress leading to rupture. The prognosis of patients with meningiomas complicated by acute subdural hematoma is generally poor, with mortality reported in approximately one-half of such patients. Surgical exploration is the most effective treatment and should be conducted before irreversible brain damage has occurred.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/209. ganglioglioma with a tanycytic ependymoma as the glial component.We studied a cystic ganglioglioma (GG) located in the right frontal lobe of the brain. Interestingly, the fibrillary spindle glial cells were often arranged in a fascicular pattern, and the generally uniform, round-to-oval delicate nuclei appeared to resemble those of ependymoma; and the neoplastic neurons often contained neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). The glial component was positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein and occasionally contained granular or microvesicular structures positive for epithelial membrane antigen. Ultrastructural investigation revealed that the glial cells were ependymal in nature; intracytoplasmic lumina and intercellular microrosettes lined with cilia and microvilli, as well as long zonulae adherentes, were evident. In addition, chromogranin a-positive granular staining, neurosecretory-granule-like structures, and parallel arrays of microtubules were sometimes associated with the blood vessels. We considered the present case to be an unusual example of GG with an ependymoma, more precisely a tanycytic ependymoma, as the glial component; to our knowledge, the existence of ependymoma as the main glial component of this particular tumor has not been described before. The occurrence of NFTs, which has been reported in several cases of GG, was an additional, unusual feature.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 14.490104556102keywords = blood vessel, vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/209. Papillary glioneuronal tumour: clinicopathological and biochemical study of one case with 7-year follow up.Among the mixed glioneuronal tumours, a new variant called papillary glioneuronal tumour has recently been delineated. A case occurring in a 23-year-old man is reported. The tumour was cystic with a mural nodule enhanced by gadolinium injection. It was located within the left parieto-occipital lobe. Surgical excision showed a greyish friable tumour with cystic areas. Histopathological examination revealed a pseudopapillary component comprising a single layer of regular cells, arranged around hyalinised vessels. These cells were immunoreactive with anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein and HNK1 antibodies. A neurocytoma-like component coexisted with round blind cells and focal fibrillary rosettes. These cells were immunostained by anti-neuron-specific enolase and anti-synaptophysin antibodies. Neither mitoses nor ganglioid cells were seen. HNK1, the three isoforms of NCAM, and the L1 adhesion molecule were detected by Western blot analysis. Ultrastructural study showed three different types of cells. The first contained gliofilaments, the second showed long processes with true synapses, and the third was poorly differentiated. However, all had identical nuclei and contained dense bodies. These findings suggest a common origin for the tumour cells derived from a bipotential neuroglial progenitor. As for other mature mixed neuroglial tumours, the prognosis is good. Our patient is free of disease 7 years after complete surgical treatment.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/209. An intrasylvian "fibroma" in a child with cystic fibrosis: case report.OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Intracranial fibrous tumors are uncommon during childhood. An unusual case of benign intrasylvian "fibroma" that has remained clinically and radiographically stable more than 3 years after a subtotal resection is described. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 9-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis presented with new-onset focal seizures referable to a large calcified left sylvian fissure mass. INTERVENTION: An open biopsy with subtotal resection of the lesion revealed a benign process characterized by exuberant fibrocollagenous tissue intermeshed with chronic inflammatory cells and foreign body giant cells, encompassing islands of gliotic brain tissue. Immunohistochemical analysis showed staining for epithelial membrane antigen and reticulin within some of the spindle cells, although the majority were nonreactive. The majority of tumor cells exhibited staining for laminin; CD34 staining was absent. Ultrastructural studies were also suggestive of a fibroblastic rather than a meningothelial origin of the lesion, with elongated cells separated by abundant extracellular collagen. Although dense adherence of the mass to the pial surface and the middle cerebral artery vessels precluded a complete resection, the patient remains seizure-free without anticonvulsant therapy more than 3 years postoperatively with no evidence of growth of the lesion. CONCLUSION: The lesion in this patient bears morphological similarity to a rare group of tumors referred to as "intracerebral fibromas," although a variety of other rare mesenchymal neoplasms were also considered within the differential diagnosis. However, the absence of any definite neoplastic features, the finding of chronic inflammatory changes, and the lack of growth of the residual tumor during an extended follow-up interval indicate that the mass may represent either an extremely indolent neoplasm or a nonneoplastic process. The differential diagnosis of intracranial fibrous tumors is contrasted with that of the reported case.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/209. Cerebral angiofibroma: case report.OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Intracranial fibromatous tumors are very rare lesions, with few reported cases. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 34-year-old male patient who experienced seizures resulting from a cystic lesion in the left occipital region, which remained unchanged for 11 years. After the seizures increased in number, magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large cyst with a tumor nodule. INTERVENTION: A left occipital craniotomy was performed, and the tumor was removed. Pathological studies, including immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analyses, indicated that this neoplasm was composed of fibrous and angiomatous components, and a diagnosis of cerebral angiofibroma was established. CONCLUSION: Cerebral and meningeal fibromas are rare neoplasms that differ from solitary fibrous tumors and fibrous meningiomas. When a number of prominent blood vessels are present in a cerebral or meningeal fibroma, a diagnosis of angiofibroma can be considered. It is possible that some nodular brain tumors that were previously described as meningioangiomatosis could be reclassified as cerebral or meningeal angiofibromas.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 14.490104556102keywords = blood vessel, vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/209. radiation-induced blood-brain barrier damage in astrocytoma: relation to elevated gelatinase B and urokinase.Successful management of brain tumors prolongs life, raising the risk of delayed injury secondary to the treatment. radiation therapy, a mainstay of brain tumor treatment, can damage the cerebral blood vessels. Acutely a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) may be seen, but fibrosis complicates radiation injury in the chronic phase. matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and plasminogen activators are two matrix-degrading proteolytic enzymes, which are induced by radiation. They disrupt the basal lamina around cerebral capillaries and open the BBB. We report a patient with an astrocytoma managed by partial resection and external beam irradiation to maximal tolerable doses. The patient later developed malignant brain edema shortly after stereotactic radiosurgery. Tissue obtained during surgical debulking to control the edema showed very high levels of gelatinase B (92 kDa type IV collagenase) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). Tumor cells were absent from the biopsy and subsequent autopsy specimens, but necrosis with fibrosis of the blood vessels was seen. If abnormal matrix enzyme function participates in the expression of radiation injury, then inhibitors to such enzymes may provide one strategy for controlling cerebrovascular damage after therapeutic brain radiation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 28.980209112203keywords = blood vessel, vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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