Resection of meningiomas in octogenarians: a comparison with a younger geriatric population.

OBJECTIVE: Intracranial meningiomas (ICMs) may be diagnosed in octogenarians. Since the lesions are rarely life-threatening, surgery is a questionable choice in this age group. The authors' aim in this study was to analyze factors associated with the extent of resection (EOR), overall survival (OS), and postoperative complications in octogenarians undergoing ICM surgery, by using a cohort of septuagenarians as a reference. METHODS: All patients ≥ 70 years of age who underwent surgery at Oslo University Hospital for an ICM between 1990 and 2010 were included in this study. Data on these cases were retrospectively (1990-2002) and prospectively (2003-2010) acquired from a databank belonging to Oslo University Hospital. All related preoperative imaging studies or reports (earlier cases) were reviewed to confirm tumor location, the presence of bone invasion, and the postoperative EOR. RESULTS: In this study, 49 octogenarians (29 females [59.2%], mean age 83.3 ± 2.5 years) were compared with 272 septuagenarians (173 females [63.6%], mean age 74.3 ± 2.7 years). Forty octogenarians (81.6%) and 217 septuagenarians (79.8%) underwent gross-total resection. Simpson grade IV resection was achieved in 9 octogenarians (18.4%) and 4 septuagenarians (1.4%), while Simpson grade V resection was obtained in 4 septuagenarians (1.4%). Postoperative complications were similar in both groups, and 4 octogenarians (8.2%) and 11 septuagenarians (4.1%) died within 30 days after surgery (p = 0.25). No octogenarian underwent adjuvant radiotherapy. The OS was 4.2 ± 2.8 years in the octogenarians and 5.8 ± 4.4 years in the septuagenarians (p < 0.001). Female sex (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.14-0.93; p = 0.03) and a preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale score ≥ 70 (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.10-0.72; p = 0.009) were correlated to the OS. CONCLUSIONS: Octogenarians undergoing surgery for ICMs had an overall reduced OS compared to septuagenarians. However, the clinical relevance of this difference in OS is debatable and has to be put in perspective with expected survival without surgery. Data on symptoms upon admission, EOR, invasive tumor features, and postoperative complications in octogenarians are similar to those observed in septuagenarians. Therefore, the decision concerning whether surgery should be performed must be based on a case-by-case discussion, and surgery should not be immediately dismissed when it comes to ICMs in octogenarians.

Stereotactic radiosurgery versus stereotactic radiotherapy in the management of intracranial meningiomas: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVEStereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) have been used as a primary treatment or adjuvant to resection in the management of intracranial meningiomas (ICMs). The aim of this analysis is to compare the safety and long-term efficacy of SRS and SRT in patients with primary or recurrent ICMs.METHODSA systematic review of the literature comparing SRT and SRS in the same study was conducted using PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and EMBASE from January 1980 to December 2018. Randomized controlled trials, case-control studies, and cohort studies (prospective and retrospective) analyzing SRS versus SRT for the treatment of ICMs in adult patients (age > 16 years) were included. Pooled and subgroup analyses were based on the fixed-effect model.RESULTSA total of 1736 patients from 12 retrospective studies were included. The treatment modality used was: 1) SRS (n = 306), including Gamma Knife surgery (n = 36), linear accelerator (n = 261), and CyberKnife (n = 9); or 2) SRT (n = 1430), including hypofractionated SRT (hFSRT, n = 268) and full-fractionated SRT (FSRT, n = 1162). The median age of patients at the time of treatment was 59 years. The median follow-up duration after treatment was 35.5 months. The median tumor volumes at the time of treatment with SRS, hFSRT, and FSRT were 2.84 cm3, 5.45 cm3, and 12.75 cm3, respectively. The radiographic tumor control at last follow-up was significantly worse in patients who underwent SRS than SRT (odds ratio [OR] 0.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.27-0.82, p = 0.007) with 7% less volume of tumor shrinkage (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.61-1.40, p = 0.72). Compared to SRS, the radiographic tumor control was better achieved by FSRT (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.26-0.80, p = 0.006) than by hFSRT (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.21-3.17, p = 0.76). Moreover, SRS leads to a significantly higher risk of clinical neurological worsening during follow-up (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.06-4.06, p = 0.03) and of immediate symptomatic edema (OR 4.58, 95% CI 1.67-12.56, p = 0.003) with respect to SRT. SRT could produce a better progression-free survival at 4-10 years compared to SRS, but this was not statistically significant (p = 0.29).CONCLUSIONSSRS and SRT are both safe options in the management of ICMs. However, SRT carries a better radiographic tumor control rate and a lower incidence of posttreatment symptomatic worsening and symptomatic edema, with respect to SRS. However, further prospective studies are still needed to validate these results.