[Intracranial meningiomas in the elderly]. / Meningiomi endocranici dell'anziano.

BACKGROUND: Since the introduction of CT and then MRI in the clinical practice, the number of elderly patients with intracranial meningiomas observed in neurosurgical departments has increased to three/four times. Considering that some patients die because of their meningioma and others die with their meningioma, the neurosurgeon should not only be able to eradicate surgically the lesion, but also to decide if that benign tumor should be treated or not. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-three patients with intracranial meningioma, aged over 65 were operated upon between 1989 and 1995. They constitute about one fourth of all the meningioma-patients operated upon in that period at our Department. Main symptoms were focal deficits, psychorganic syndrome, and seizures. Mean duration of symptoms was 15 months, with 30% of the histories lasting less than 3 months. Associate pathologies were those typical of the elderly population with hypertension and senile cardiopathy at the first places. Two patients had insulin-dependent diabetes, 2 prostatic carcinoma, and 8 were obese. MRI was useful either in depicting the location of the tumor or in helping the surgeon to give a correct operative indication and risk evaluation. MRI criteria for risk evaluation were severe edema and venous vascular infiltration. Forty-five operations were performed. Their duration was not a risk factor by itself, it only reflected the difficulty of the removal, due to the location of the tumor. Dissection of tumor remnants from main arteries or veins was never attempted in this group of patients; total removal was achieved in 75.5% of the cases. RESULTS: Immediate postoperative results were good in 71% of cases. Four patients died (9%). Long term results were evaluated in 29 patients (mean follow-up period: 35 months). Twenty-two patients (76%) had excellent or good results, 5 (17%) fair, and 2 (7%) had severe neurological dysfunctions and needed continuous assistance. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical risk factors typical of this age group were identified: cranio-spinal location, damage to the cortical or deep venous system, severe peritumoral edema, and poor neurological preoperative conditions. Systemic risk factors were insulin-dependent diabetes and obesity.

[Randomized study on the use of propofol for anesthesia in intracranial tumors. Comparison with balanced anesthesia]. / Studio randomizzato sull'uso del propofol nell'anestesia dei tumori intracranici. Confronto con anestesia bilanciata.

There is currently no anesthesiological technique which enables volume, cerebral blood flow and spinal fluid pressure to be kept constant. The aim of the present study was to compare two techniques of anesthesia in patients with cerebral tumours: one of a balanced type (AB) and the other of a continuous ev type (AEC) using propofol in order to assess which guaranteed the greatest cerebral protection. The results of the study have shown that the use of propofol may represent a useful alternative in intracranial tumour surgery since changes in systolic pressure and heart rate observed during AEC anesthesia were statistically lower in comparison to AB anesthesia. No statistically significant differences were observed in relation to changes in diastolic pressure, PVC, ApCO2 and the incidence of bleeding or cerebral edema. The quality of awakening was better in patients in the AEC group in terms of renewed breathing and spontaneous motility, verbal response and space-time orientation.

[Anesthesia problems of patients with malignant oral neoplasms undergoing inductive chemotherapy protocol and surgery]. / Problemi anestesiologici nei pazineti affetti da neoplasie maligne del cavo orale sottoposti a protocollo di chemioterapia induttiva e chirurgia.

The Authors expand the results about thirty-nine Patients with advanced malignant tumours of the oral cavity treated with inductive chemotherapy and radical surgery. They considered the choice of a correct scheme of anaesthesia in the surgical treatment for Patients with particular health conditions and previously subjected to inductive chemotherapy. The necessity to practice a pre- and post-operative therapy for subduing the very frequent and serious concomitant diseases is underlined.

Giant osteoma of the sphenoid sinus reached by an extradural transbasal approach: case report.

Giant osteomas of the paranasal sinuses are infrequent. Those of the sphenoid sinus with neurological symptoms are even rarer. We report here the case of a woman with a giant osteoma of the sphenoid sinus who presented with bitemporal quadrantanopsia and underwent operation via an extradural transbasal approach.