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Between the years 1970 and 1997, 112 patients with tumors of the lateral ventricle were operated on at the University of Ankara, School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery. Seventy-one patients (63.4%) were male and 41 patients (36.6%) female. Headache (35.7%), nausea and vomiting (22.3%) were the most common presenting complaints. Papilloedema (42.9%), motor and sensory loss (25%) were the most common findings at neurological examination. Complete tumor removal was accomplished in 38.4% of the patients. Histopathologically, the most commonly seen types of the tumor were ependymoma (25%) and astrocytoma (21.4%). Among the various approach, the anterior transcortical (53.6%) and the posterior transcortical (16%) were the most commonly used. Eleven patients were reoperated for tumor recurrence. After surgery, radiation therapy was also performed on fourty-two patients. The morbidity and mortality rates were considerably higher before 1976 when the use of microneurosurgical techniques was introduced. After this, our morbidity and mortality rates decreased dramatically. The overall surgical mortality rate was 7.1% before 1976; during the last 10 years (n:46), it was 6.5%. In this report, our choice of operative approaches and the results will be discussed.

A rare case of pathologically proven primary intraspinal extradural hydatid disease of the thoracic region with spinal cord compression is reported. The diagnosis was established preoperatively on the basis of the MRI findings. The patient underwent surgery and recovered completely.

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