Social determinants of health and survival on Brazilian patients with glioblastoma: a retrospective analysis of a large populational database.

Background: The majority of patients diagnosed with glioblastoma develop recurrent disease resulting in poor prognoses. The current study aimed to determine the survival rates of patients diagnosed with glioblastoma in Brazil accounting for the influence of age, treatment modalities, public and private practices, and educational level using a population-based national database. Methods: Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma from 1999-2020 were identified from The Fundação Oncocentro de São Paulo database to create a retrospective cohort. Patients were described according to age, education level treatment modalities and medical practice. In a Cox proportional hazards model, controlled for confounding factors for overall survival, the hazard ratio and 95% CI of overall survival in adults was evaluated. Findings: A total of 4,511 patients were included. The median lengths of survival for patients treated in the public and private settings were 8 and 17 months (p<0.001), respectively. Young patients had longer median overall survival (OS: 18 to 40 years, 41 to 60 years, 61 to 65 years, 66 to 70 years and over than 70 years was 22 months, 10 months, 6 months, 5 months, 4 months, respectively (p<0.001). In general, combined treatments were associated with higher median survival compared to monotherapy. The higher educational level, the higher median survival was observed (4 months for illiterate versus 14 months for university degree). In the multivariable analyses, the significant independent predictors for overall survival were practice setting, educational level, age and treatment modalities. Interpretation: Public practice, older patients, less intensive treatment, and lower educational level were associated with worse survival outcomes in Brazilian glioblastoma patients.

Vestibular schwannoma: predictive factors of long-term postoperative neurological outcome.

Introduction: Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is a slow-growing, benign tumor that is usually diagnosed when symptoms develop. Surgical management aims to reduce long-term sequelae (LTS) associated with late diagnosis.Objective: Identify predictive factors of LTS after VS surgery and clinical outcome measured by modified Rankin scale (mRS).Methods: This cohort study included patients submitted to VS surgery from 1999 to 2014, with a mean follow-up of 6.4 ± 4.5 years. Disability was assessed across the mRS the primary outcome was defined by scores 3 to 6, which implied poor outcome in neurological recovery. Predictive factors were identified through multivariate logistic regression.Results: A total of 101 patients were included in this study. Fifty-one (50.49%) presented mRS ≥ 3 on the late postoperative period. Men comprise 22.8%, and the mean age was 47.1 ± 16.0 years (range19-80). Patients with mRS ≥ 3 presented larger tumors (3.7 ± 1.1 cm vs. 3.2 ± 1.0 cm, p < .001), less total resection (50% vs. 76.7%, p < .010) and more neurofibromatosis II(NFII) (84.9% vs. 64.3%, p = .023). On multivariate analysis NFII, tumor size and type resection were predictive of degree of autonomy (mRS ≥3: NF II (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.08-11.36, p = .036) and tumor size (each 1 cm, OR1.51, 95% CI 0.96-2.38, p = .050).Conclusion: Tumor size, presence of NFT II, type of surgical approach and number of surgeries were identified as predictive factors of functional sequelae in long-term follow-up after VS surgery.HighlightsOne-third of our patients presented some degree of disability that impact in autonomy (mRS ≥ 3) in the late postoperative period.Tumor size, NFII, surgical approach were predictive to comprise independency.Considering the cranial nerve monitoring and late diagnosis, our results can give some contribution to understanding the Brazilian profile of VS surgery.Our findings suggests the need to look over what it is well recognized and identify aspects that affect the prognosis such as functional disabilities in VS surgery.

Auditory brainstem implant in postmeningitis totally ossified cochleae.

INTRODUCTION: An auditory brainstem implant (ABI) is an option for auditory rehabilitation in patients with totally ossified cochleae who cannot receive a conventional cochlear implant. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcomes in audiometry and speech perception tests after the implantation of an ABI via the extended retrolabyrinthine approach in patients with postmeningitis hearing loss. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients, including children and adults, with postmeningitis hearing loss and bilateral totally ossified cochleae received an ABI in a tertiary center from 2009 to 2015. The extended retrolabyrinthine approach was performed in all the patients by the same surgeons. A statistical analysis compared pure tonal averages and speech perception tests before and at least 12 months after the ABI activation. RESULTS: Eight patients (80%) showed improvements in tonal audiometry and the word and vowel perception tests after an average follow-up of 3.3 years. Two patients recognized up to 40% of the closed-set sentences without lip-reading. Two patients had no auditory response. CONCLUSIONS: The ABI improved hearing performance in audiometry and speech perception tests in cases of postmeningitis hearing loss. The extended retrolabyrinthine approach is a safe surgical option for patients with postmeningitis hearing loss and bilateral totally ossified cochleae.

Giant Epidermoid Cyst: A Rare Cause of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Introduction Epidermoid tumors represent approximately 0.3 to 1.8% of all intracranial brain tumors. Only 1.5% of all intracranial epidermoid cysts (ECs) invade the brain and secondary epilepsy is extremely rare. Since August 2014, a 59-year-old male smoker had been presenting bad smell feelings, totaling four episodes with sudden onset and duration of 2 minutes. On September 2014, after a sense of smell episode, it evolved into loss of contact and automatic movements followed by generalized tonic-clonic movements. The brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed an extensive subtemporal lesion affecting anterior, middle, and posterior fossa with invasion of the choroidal fissure and projection to the temporal horn of the lateral ventricle. Pretemporal craniotomy with combined approaches, transsylvian and subtemporal, allowed for the excision of a white keratinized and softened lesion suggestive of EC. Discussion The optimal surgical strategy in individuals with ECs and seizures is not established. The evaluation of the cause and risk-benefit must be held to choose the appropriate surgical strategy: lesionectomy, lobectomy, or amygdalohippocampectomy. In this case, a lesionectomy was performed due to an absence of evidence of involvement of hippocampus and amygdala. Conclusion Epilepsy secondary to ECs is a rare association. Lesionectomy can be an option with good results without increasing the morbidity.

Computed Tomographic Angiography for Cerebral Aneurysms in Spontaneous Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) has recently gained popularity as an initial imaging test for spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). This study evaluated 59 patients presenting aneurysmal SAH who underwent microsurgical clipping based on CTA findings alone and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) at postoperative follow-up. Multiple aneurysms were identified by CTA in 27% of patients and in 10% of patients, DSA identified aneurysms in addition to those diagnosed with CTA. The time between CTA and surgical treatment ranged from 0­4 days. Postoperative DSA revealed that 24% of patients had residual neck. The use of CTA alonemay not be enough to detect small unruptured aneurysms in patients with multiple lesions or aneurysm remnants adjacent to an aneurysm clip. However, the advantages of CTA compared with DSA include its rapidity, reduced invasiveness, and lower cost, which allow us to proceed to ruptured aneurysm repair entirely on the basis of good-quality CTA studies.

Angiotomografia computadorizada (ATC) ganhou popularidade como exame de imagem inicial na hemorragia subaracnoide (HSA). Este estudo retrospectivo, descritivo e observacional, avaliou 59 pacientes com HSA aneurismática. Todos foram submetidos à clipagem microcirúrgica apenas com base na ATC e no seguimento realizou-se avaliação com angiografia digital (AD). Em 27% dos pacientes encontramos múltiplos aneurismas na ATC e 10% tinham outros diferentes aneurismas diagnosticados pela AD. O intervalo entre ATC e tratamento cirúrgico variou de 0­4 dias. AD pós-operatória mostrou 24% dos pacientes com colo residual. A detecção de pequenos aneurismas não rotos em pacientes com múltiplos aneurismas e colo residual pós clipagem cirúrgica continuam a ser um problema quando a ATC é realizada isoladamente. No entanto, as vantagens da ATC incluem sua rapidez, menor invasão e custo, o que nos permite realizar o tratamento cirúrgico de aneurismas rotos apenas com os achados da ATC de boa qualidade.