Choroid plexus tumors in adults: a retrospective mono-institutional study.

Purpose: Choroid plexus tumors (CPT) are rare entities, and even rarer in adulthood.

Methods: A retrospective consecutive series of 24 adult CPT patients was reviewed.

Results: We described 24 adult CPTs.

Surgical and radiosurgical treatment of hypothalamic hamartoma: The Italian experience between 2011 and 2021.

Objective: To investigate the Italian experience on the surgical and radiosurgical treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy due to hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) in the period 2011-2021 in six Italian epilepsy surgery centers, and to compare safety and efficacy profiles of the different techniques.

Methods: We collected pseudo-anonymized patient's data with at least 12 months of follow-up. Surgical outcome was defined according to Engel classification of seizure outcome.

Hypofractionated Radiosurgery for Large or in Critical-Site Intracranial Meningioma: Results of a Phase 2 Prospective Study.

Purpose: Radiosurgery is a well-known, safe, and effective technique used in the treatment of intracranial meningiomas. However, single-fraction radiosurgery can lead to high toxicity rates when large-volume or critically located lesions are targeted. Multisession-also called hypofractionated-radiosurgery (hypo-RS) might overcome these limitations.

Multisession radiosurgery for grade 2 (WHO), high risk meningiomas. A phase II clinical trial.

Purpose: Patients suffering from recurrent and residual grade 2 (WHO) meningiomas after subtotal excision should be considered as high-risk groups with an uncertain prognosis. Adjuvant radiotherapy seems to be the best approach to reduce disease progression. The primary aim of this phase II explorative, monocentric, single arm study was to evaluate the safety of adjuvant multisession radiosurgery (mRS) in this group of patients; the efficacy in terms of tumour local control was the secondary endpoint.

Therapeutic Approaches in Adult Primary Spinal Cord Astrocytoma: A Systematic Review.

The Issue: Gliomas are primary tumors arising from supporting cells of the central nervous system (CNS), usually in the brain. The 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) classifies gliomas as adult-type diffuse gliomas or circumscribed astrocytic gliomas depending on their histology and molecular features. Spinal astrocytic gliomas are very rare, and nowadays no standard of therapy is available.

On the evaluation of edgeless diode detectors for patient-specific QA in high-dose stereotactic radiosurgery.

Purpose: In this work, the potential of an innovative "edgeless" silicon diode was evaluated as a response to the still unmet need of a reliable tool for plan dosimetry verification of very high dose, non-coplanar, patient-specific radiosurgery treatments. In order to prove the effectiveness of the proposed technology, we focused on radiosurgical treatments for functional disease like tremor or pain.

Methods: The edgeless diodes response has been validated with respect to clinical practice standard detectors by reproducing the reference dosimetry data adopted for the Treatment Planning System.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Intracranial Noncavernous Sinus Benign Meningioma: International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Practice Guideline.

Background: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for benign intracranial meningiomas is an established treatment.

Objective: To summarize the literature and provide evidence-based practice guidelines on behalf of the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society (ISRS).

Methods: Articles in English specific to SRS for benign intracranial meningioma, published from January 1964 to April 2018, were systematically reviewed.

Skull-base surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic: the Italian Skull Base Society recommendations.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is highly contagious with devastating impacts for healthcare systems worldwide. Medical staff are at high risk of viral contamination and it is imperative to know what personal protective equipment (PPE) is appropriate for each situation. Furthermore, elective clinics and operations have been reduced in order to mobilize manpower to the acute specialties combating the outbreak; appropriate differentiation between patients who require immediate care and those who can receive telephone consultation or whose treatment might viably be postponed is therefore crucial.

Multisession radiosurgery for perioptic meningiomas: medium-to-long term results from a CyberKnife cooperative study.

Purpose: Most recent literature has confirmed the efficacy of single-session radiosurgery (sRS) in the treatment of intracranial meningioma. Unfortunately, sRS is not always applicable due to large tumor volume and the proximity of the tumor to critical structures. When sRS is not recommended, multi-session radiosurgery (mRS) can be the solution.

Radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia: the state of art.

The trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a chronic, episodic, and disabling facial pain syndrome. It is a relatively rare disorder. Despite this, because of the intensity of the pain, TN may have a dramatic impact for many patients.

Integration of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Magnetoencephalography Functional Maps Into a CyberKnife Planning System: Feasibility Study for Motor Activity Localization and Dose Planning.

Objective: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provide noninvasive localization of eloquent brain areas for presurgical planning. The aim of this study is the integration of MEG and fMRI maps into a CyberKnife (CK) system to optimize dose planning.

Methods: Four patients with brain metastases in the motor area underwent functional imaging study of the hand motor cortex before radiosurgery.

Differentiating brain radionecrosis from tumour recurrence: a role for contrast-enhanced ultrasound?

Differentiating radionecrosis from tumour recurrence is a major issue in neuro-oncology. Conventional imaging is far from being validated as an alternative to histological assessment. We report the case of a patient operated on for suspected recurrence of brain metastasis 9 months after cyberknife radiosurgery.

Short course radiotherapy concomitant with temozolomide in GBM patients: a phase II study.

Purpose: Despite recent advances, the prognosis of glioblastoma (GBM) remains poor. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of multiple daily fraction radiotherapy performed with multiple temozolomide (TMZ) administrations in newly diagnosed patients with GBM.

Methods: This trial was a prospective, open-label, monocentric, nonrandomized, single arm, phase II study.

The role of radiosurgery in trigeminal neuralgia.

A short review of clinical use of radiosurgery in trigeminal neuralgia is offered.

Treatments of glossopharyngeal neuralgia: towards standard procedures.

The degree of disability due to glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GN) refractory to conservative treatments justifies surgical procedures as second-line treatments. Since the first description of this facial pain disorders, many surgical options have been described either via a percutaneous or an open surgical way. Actually, when a neurovascular conflict on root entry zone (REZ) or cisternal portion of the ninth and tenth cranial nerves is identified, microvascular decompression (MVD) is the first surgical option to consider.

Radiosurgery for Paragangliomas of the Head and Neck: Another Step for the Validation of a Treatment Paradigm.

Background: Paragangliomas are highly vascular and predominantly benign neoplasms that traditionally have been treated by surgery, embolization, and/or external beam radiotherapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term local tumor control and the safety of radiosurgery for head and neck paragangliomas.

Methods: Data were obtained from prospectively maintained databases of patients affected by brain tumors treated with radiosurgery at our institution.

The cavernous sinus meningiomas' dilemma: Surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery?

Despite the advances in techniques and technologies, the management of cavernous sinus (CS) meningiomas still remains a challenge for both neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists. On the other hand, the improvement of the anatomical knowledge and the microsurgical techniques together with diffusion of radiosurgery are currently changing the treatment strategy, opening new perspectives to the patients which are suffering from such lesions. The authors reviewed here the literature data.

Multisession Radiosurgery for Sellar and Parasellar Benign Meningiomas: Long-term Tumor Growth Control and Visual Outcome.

Background: Concern about radiation-induced optic neuropathy (RION) has governed recent thinking about the role of radiation therapy in the treatment of meningiomas involving the anterior optic pathways. Despite this concern, during the last few years, the use of radiosurgery for such lesions has increased steadily.

Objective: To define both the tumor control rate and the risk of RION over a long-term follow-up period in a large cohort of patients treated with multisession radiosurgery.

Radiosurgery reirradiation for high-grade glioma recurrence: a retrospective analysis.

Despite various treatment strategies being available, recurrent high-grade gliomas (r-HGG) are difficult to manage. To obtain local control, radiosurgery (SRS) reirradiation has been considered as potential treatment. In the present study, a retrospective analysis was performed on r-HGG patients treated with salvage single- (s-SRS) or multi-fraction SRS (m-SRS).

Dosimetric verification of stereotactic radiosurgery/stereotactic radiotherapy dose distributions using Gafchromic EBT3.

Aim of this study is to examine the feasibility of using the new Gafchromic EBT3 film in a high-dose stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy quality assurance procedure. Owing to the reduced dimensions of the involved lesions, the feasibility of scanning plan verification films on the scanner plate area with the best uniformity rather than using a correction mask was evaluated. For this purpose, signal values dispersion and reproducibility of film scans were investigated.

Intradural extramedullary benign spinal lesions radiosurgery. Medium- to long-term results from a single institution experience.

Background: Surgery represents the first-choice treatment for spinal intradural tumours. On the other hand, whether it is most appropriate in the setting of recurrences, residual or multiple lesions remains an open question. Moreover, some patients are less than ideal candidates for surgery.

Prospective study of carmustine wafers in combination with 6-month metronomic temozolomide and radiation therapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma: preliminary results.

Object: Locoregional chemotherapy with carmustine wafers, positioned at surgery and followed by radiation therapy, has been shown to prolong survival in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, as has concomitant radiochemotherapy with temozolomide. A combination of carmustine wafers with the Stupp treatment regimen has only been investigated in retrospective studies.

Methods: In a single-institution prospective study, the authors assessed 12-month progression-free survival (PFS), toxicity, and overall survival in patients with glioblastoma treated with surgery, carmustine wafers, radiotherapy, and 6-month metronomic temozolomide chemotherapy.