Gliosarcoma with direct involvement of the oculomotor nerve: Case report and literature review.

Gliosarcoma is a rare malignant brain tumor, characterized by a biphasic tissue pattern with alternating areas displaying glial and mesenchymal differentiation. We first report a case of temporo-mesial gliosarcoma, extended to the crural and ambient cisterns, with direct involvement of the ipsilateral third cranial nerve and encasement of anterior choroidal, posterior communicant and posterior cerebral arteries, presenting without symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. A 61-year-old woman with 1-month history of intense bilateral frontal-temporal headache resistant to pharmacological therapy and paresis of the left lower midface underwent surgical resection, through pterional trans-sylvian approach, of a right temporo-mesial gliosarcoma which directly involved the ipsilateral oculomotor nerve.

Multicentric and diffuse recurrences of meningiomas.

Meningiomas recur with a rate of 10-32% at 10 years. Several features influence the risk of recurrence. To define the pathological and surgical features at risk of multicentric-diffuse versus local-peripheral recurrence.

Evaluation of matrix metalloproteinase type IV-collagenases in serum of patients with tumors of the central nervous system.

The basement membrane collagen IV-degrading matrix metalloproteinases -2 and -9 (MMPs) are most often linked to the malignant phenotype of tumor cells by playing a critical role in invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, and vasculogenesis. We verified the activity of these two MMPs in the sera of patients affected by brain tumors (20 gliomas, 28 meningiomas and 20 metastasis) by zymography. The sera of 25 healthy volunteers with no concomitant illnesses were used for controls.

Brain gliomas presenting with symptoms of spinal cord metastasis.

Three patients with brain gliomas (aged 41, 37, and 43 years) presented spinal cord symptoms as first neurological presentation (two cases) or at anaplastic progression (one case). Histologically, two cases were anaplastic (WHO III) astrocytomas and one anaplastic (WHO III) oligodendroglioma. The spinal surgery consisted of partial tumor resection in two cases with localized spinal cord metastasis, and tumor biopsy in another with diffuse spreading to the conus and cauda.

Glioblastoma in the elderly: the impact of advanced age on treatment and survival.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of combined treatments on the outcome and survival of elderly (≥ 65 years) patients with glioblastoma as compared with younger ones.

Material And Methods: Fifty consecutive elderly (≥ 65 years) patients (group A) who underwent complete or subtotal (> 80%) resection of brain glioblastoma followed by irradiation and chemotherapy with temozolomide between 2004 and 2009 were retrospectively reviewed and compared with 50 glioblastoma patients aged < 65 years, treated in the same period (group B). Patient sex, tumor location, size and side, combined treatments, reoperation, progression-free survival, and overall survival were compared in the two groups by using the Kaplan-Meyer method.