Metastases to the cerebellum. Results and prognostic factors in a consecutive series of 44 operated patients.

Background: Recent reports on large number of patients with brain metastases report that Whole Brain Radiotherapy (WBRT) and Radiosurgery (RS) should be the treatments of choice, particularly in multiple lesions cases. Among the prognostic factors, the cerebellar location was never considered, although this results in hydrocephalus, brain stem compression, ataxia, intracranial hypertension.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated 44 patients with cerebellar metastases operated over 6 years.

Fixed dose-rate gemcitabine as radiosensitizer for newly diagnosed glioblastoma: a dose-finding study.

In patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), concurrent chemo-radiotherapy with temozolomide is the new standard of care. In the present phase I study we investigated the association of gemcitabine, a cell-cycle antimetabolite with radiosensitizing properties, with radiotherapy (RT) in the first line treatment. Gemcitabine was delivered at a fixed dose-rate of 10 mg/m(2)/min weekly for 6 weeks starting 24-72 h prior to, and then concomitantly with RT (2.

Spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea as the presenting symptom of sellar pathologies: three demonstrative cases.

Spontaneous rhinorrhea due to sellar pathologies is a rare and insidious disease that may represent a diagnostic challenge. Since the precipitating cause is not apparent in most patients, delayed diagnosis and/or improper treatments are not uncommon and may be detrimental for the patients. The precise mechanisms of such rhinorrhea are still incompletely understood.

Levetiracetam therapy in patients with brain tumour and epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a common clinical problem in patients with brain tumours, strongly affecting patients' quality of life. Tumour-related seizures are often difficult to control, and the clinical picture is complicated by frequent interactions between antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and antineoplastic agents. We studied the safety and efficacy of levetiracetam (LEV), a new AED with a different pharmacological profile from traditional anticonvulsants, in 19 patients (6 females; age range 28-70 years, mean 48 years) with supratentorial gliomas and epilepsy.

Bone metastasis from glioblastoma multiforme without central nervous system relapse: a case report.

The extraneural diffusion of malignant gliomas is not frequent and some authors have reported single or multiple bone metastases from glioblastoma contemporary to the time of primary cerebral tumor or accompanying relapse on the brain. We report the case of a man affected by a glioblastoma who had a lumbar spine metastases without any brain relapse after excision of cerebral glioblastoma multiforme and brain radiotherapy.

Unilateral limited laminectomy as the approach of choice for the removal of thoracolumbar neurofibromas.

Study Design: The paper reports a minimally invasive approach to the dorsolumbar spine for the removal of neurofibromas.

Objectives: Demonstrating that a limited unilateral approach is the one of choice for this kind of tumors.

Summary Of Background Data: Spinal intradural extramedullary tumors are generally removed by single-level or multilevel laminectomy with midline dural incision.

Asymptomatic esophageal perforation caused by late screw migration after anterior cervical plating: report of a case and review of relevant literature.

Study Design: This report documents a case of asymptomatic esophageal perforation, secondary to a dislocated and then migrated cervical screw after anterior plating, and reviews the relevant Western literature.

Objectives: To report a rare and potentially dangerous complication and suggest mechanisms of asymptomatic esophageal perforation and healing.

Summary Of Background Data: Anterior surgical approaches to the cervical spine have become popular and safer during the past decade.

Quality-of-life assessment in patients who had been surgically treated for cerebellar pilocytic astrocytoma in childhood.

Object: After radical surgery for childhood cerebellar astrocytomas, patients are considered to be cured. Long-term follow up demonstrates that these patients survive, with most of them leading a normal life. The study reported here was aimed at assessing the quality of life (QOL) of these adults, which is defined as a person's sense of well-being, as derived from his or her current experience of life as a whole.