A brief review of skull base chordomas.

Skull base chrodomas are slow growing neoplasms usually located along the midline. They display a locally invasive nature with possibilities of extracranial metastasis. Presentation is usually late and depends upon the location and extent of the tumour.

Glioblastoma multiforme at internal auditory canal.

Background: Glioblastomas are the most common adult primary brain tumor present supratentorially. The presence of true extra-axial GBM infratentorially, especially in the internal auditory canal, is extremely rare with only three cases reported previously in the literature. We report the fourth case of primary internal auditory canal/cerebellopontine angle (CPA) glioblastoma which initially mimicked vestibular schwannoma on the basis of its location and presentation.

Endoscopic surgical treatment for primary spinal lesions.

Primary spinal cord tumours are infrequently encountered CNS neoplasms and can be broadly classified into intradural intramedullary and intradural extramedullary lesions. Resection of these lesions was traditionally done via open surgical access almost always with microscope assistance. With the advent of minimally invasive surgical techniques, endoscopic excision of these lesions has been attempted for selected tumours.

Mature teratoma of the cisterna magna in an adult patient.

Background: Teratomas are a rare subgroup of CNS germ cell tumors and are histologically classified into mature teratomas, immature teratomas, and teratomas with malignant transformation. CNS teratomas are infrequently found in the posterior fossa and pure mature teratomas of posterior fossa are rare especially in adults. We present a case of a young adult female with a mature teratoma in the cisterna magna.

Incidence of radiographic scoliosis in asymptomatic young Pakistani adults.

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common scoliotic deformity of young adults. Screening of AIS is performed as part of the routine preemployment examination for physically demanding positions. We attempted to establish the incidence of clinically overt scoliosis in an adolescent (16 years old) and young adult (21 years old) population.

Postoperative cerebro spinal fluid diversion in patients with third ventricular colloid cysts.

Colloid cysts are a group of CNS neoplasms that usually present with features of CSF flow obstruction. The treatment is by microsurgical, endoscopic or stereotactic techniques. Hydrocephalus usually resolves postoperatively, but in around 3-7% of cases symptoms persist and ultimately require CSF diversion.

Role of surgery in multifocal glioblastoma.

The management of multifocal glioblastomas is a point of constant discussion amongst neuro-oncologists. Best outcomes in glioblastoma management come from gross total resection (GTR) followed by concomitant radiation and chemotherapy (CCRT). Multifocal disease is resistant to GTR.

Nanomedicine in the treatment of Glioblastoma.

The current standard of care in glioblastoma management is surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Temozolomide is an alkylating agent most commonly used with a few other second line options. The efficacy of systemic chemotherapy in brain malignancies is limited due to the nature of the blood-brain barrier.

Management of paediatric intracranial ependymoma.

Intracranial ependymoma are relatively common paediatric brain tumours, but their eloquent location and high recurrence rate pose a significant challenge. Gross total resection or maximum safe resection followed by adjuvant radiotherapy are currently the standard recommended treatment, although there is still nearly 50% recurrence risk at 5 years. Chemotherapy has shown some promising results after recent advances in molecular understanding of ependymomas, but needs further evaluation before it could be added to the treatment regime.