Atypical meningioma of the sylvian fissure.

Meningiomas are meningothelial cell neoplasms that account for approximately 25% of all primary intracranial tumors. Most meningiomas are slow-growing benign lesions, and they are usually attached to the inner surface of the dura mater. Nevertheless, since the first description by of Cushing and Eisenhardt, many meningiomas without dural attachment have been reported. A subgroup located in the sylvian fissure (also called deep sylvian meningiomas) has been described, and these represent a radiological and neurosurgical challenge. We describe an atypical sylvian fissure meningioma in a 23-year-old male with a brief history of headache and mild hemiparesis. We also review the pertinent literature defining the major epidemiological, clinical, radiological and surgical characteristics of these rare tumors.

Primary high-grade B-cell lymphoma of the choroid plexus.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is an extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma arising from and confined to the neuraxis. It represents about 3-4% of all primitive brain neoplasms and is mainly located in deep supratentorial regions. A ventricular involvement is quite frequent, but in the vast majority of cases it is secondary to an extension from a subependymal location. Amongst the primary ventricular forms occasionally reported, a choroid plexus origin is extremely rare; to date, only three cases have been described in the English literature. We report the case of a 71-year-old left-handed woman admitted to our department after a progressive 2-week history of confusion, motor speech disturbances and left hemiparesis. A brain MRI scan displayed an intraventricular lesion located in the right atrium, about 2.5cm in its major axis, homogeneously enhancing after gadolinium administration, surrounded by edema in the homolateral deep hemispheric region; the main diagnostic hypothesis was meningioma. She underwent a parieto-occipital craniotomy and a navigation-assisted posterior parietal transcortical approach, achieving complete removal of the intraventricular lesion originating from the choroid plexus. The histological diagnosis was of high-grade diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Both an MRI scan of the entire craniospinal axis and a thoracic and abdominal CT scan showed no other neoplastic lesions; a bone marrow biopsy was normal; a final diagnosis of primary central nervous system lymphoma was made. CSF cytological analysis did not show any signs of lymphoma dissemination. Adjuvant chemotherapy with methotrexate was administered, and at the last follow-up (26 months) our patient is clinically and radiologically disease-free. Primary choroid plexus lymphoma is a very rare tumor that should be included in the differential diagnosis of intraventricular neoplasms. It usually occurs in the lateral ventricles (with a predilection for the atrium) of adult people (>50 years of age), apparently with a male prevalence. Generally, the radiological picture mimics that of a meningioma, despite the fact that meningiomas usually reach a greater volume before clinical onset. Surgery is almost always necessary to obtain an adequate tissue sample and frequently leads to a radical removal of the lesion. Low-grade marginal zone B-cell, T-cell and high-grade diffuse large B-cell (present case) forms have been described. With a proper adjuvant therapy a relatively good outcome is observed.

Calvarial metastasis from endometrial carcinoma: Case report and review of the literature.

Hematogenous bone metastases from endometrial carcinoma are not frequent and their treatment is a matter of debate. We describe an extremely rare case of calvarial metastasis from endometrial carcinoma in an 80-year-old woman treated by means of one-step surgical radical resection and heterologous cranioplasty, along with a review of the literature regarding epidemiology, clinico-radiological features, prognosis, and management of skull metastases.

Cystic dilation of the ventriculus terminalis.

OBJECT: The ventriculus terminalis, an embryological remnant consisting of the ependymal-lined space of the conus medullaris, can occasionally become symptomatic after cystic dilation. In the existing literature, consisting of 32 cases, the preferred type of management (conservative vs surgical) is still debated. The object of this study was to report the surgical results in a consecutive series of 10 adult patients with cystic dilation of the ventriculus terminalis (CDVT), to match them with data retrieved from the relevant literature, and specifically to validate a new recent clinical classification. METHODS: The authors reported 13 new cases of CDVT treated in the Department of Neurosurgery at University Hospital in Verona, Italy. Treatment modalities and clinical and radiological outcomes, both early and at follow-up, were analyzed and compared with a preoperative classification of clinical presentation, as established by de Moura Batista and colleagues (2008). RESULTS: Surgical treatment seemed to guarantee the resolution of CDVT. Dorsolumbar laminotomy, myelotomy, and cystic drainage were performed in 10 patients. Patients with Type I symptoms (nonspecific complaints) often presented with comorbidities (herniated disc or facet hypertrophy) confusing their clinical status. The surgical treatment of patients with Type I symptoms promoted good results only if the diagnosis of CDVT was definitive and symptoms had rapidly evolved. In patients with Type II (focal neurological deficits) and III (sphincter disturbances) symptoms, surgical treatment sustained improvement even at the late follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: While confirming the usefulness of de Moura Batista and colleagues' classification in its impact on prognosis, the authors propose a revision of the classification with subgroups Type Ia (nonspecific symptoms without clear relation to CDVT), which is best treated conservatively, and Type Ib (rapid onset and invalidating unspecific complaints without comorbidities), which may benefit from surgical evacuation.

Late deterioration of neurologic function in patients surgically treated for spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas.

BACKGROUND: A limited number of reports on the long-term neurologic outcome of patients with SDAVFs treated by surgery and/or embolization are available in the literature. The aim of our study is to neurologically evaluate these patients at 2 different follow-up stages, after surgery, to demonstrate a possible late neurologic deterioration after an initial improvement. METHODS: Between January 1987 and May 2002, 29 patients with SDAVFs were operated on at the Verona Department of Neurosurgery. In this group we retrospectively identified 16 patients who had 2 different clinical follow-ups, at a mean of 4.5 and 9.2 years, respectively. We compared their neurologic status using the ALS. All these data were obtained from clinical charts and phone interviews. RESULTS: The epidemiologic, clinical, and radiologic features of our group of patients are very similar to those previously described in the literature. Comparing the global clinical status between the 2 different follow-up stages, we observed a late deterioration in 8 cases (50%). A worsening of the mean G and M values of the ALS was also noted. Spinal angiography and contrast-enhanced MRI did not show any signs of recurrence of the fistula. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms the possible occurrence of a late clinical deterioration in as many as 50% of patients surgically treated for a SDAVF. We deem that the main pathophysiologic mechanism underlining this phenomenon is a gradual and irreversible decline in spinal function related to those hemodynamic modifications induced by the fistula and to the persistence of a state of anatomofunctional deficiency of the spinal venous drainage.