Lateral ventricular subependymomas: An analysis of the clinical features of 27 adult cases at a single institute.

Objective: To evaluate the unique clinical characteristics and management of lateral ventricular subependymomas (LVSs). Patients and Methods : The case records of 27 adult consecutive patients with LVS admitted between March 1996 and May 2011 were reviewed. The relevant clinical data (including patient age and sex, neuroimaging studies, surgical records and follow up) were collected through a chart review. Patient neurological status was recorded using the Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS).

Results: The gender distribution was 14:13 and the age from 33 to 66 years (median 45 years) at the time of operation. Headache and dizziness were the most common initial symptoms (17/27). Most of these tumours were located at the foramen of Monro (12/27). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (21/27) showed well circumscribed tumours with cystic changes (21/27). The lesions were hypointense on T1-weighted images (19/21), hyperintense on T2-weighted images (21/21), and contrast enhancement was no or minimal (19/21). Gross total resection was performed in 23 patients. Five patients required a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt because of postoperative hydrocephalus. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 188 months (mean 55.5 months). No recurrence was observed during the follow up.

Conclusion: In this study LVSs had equal gender distribution. Tumours around the foramen of Monro were the candidates for aggressive treatment; surgery was the best curative treatment; postoperative hydrocephalus should be attended to.