The authors undertook a follow-up study of 286 patients who underwent surgical treatment for intracranial meningioma between 1973 and 1994, in order to analyse clinical, radiological, topographic, histopathological and therapeutic factors significantly influencing tumour recurrence. All patients were followed by using either computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance from 3 months to 17 years since first surgery (mean follow-up: 4.1 years). Forty-four (15.4%) recurrences were detected during this time period. Overall recurrence rates were 14%, 37% and 61% at 5, 10 and 15 years, respectively. Factors significantly associated with tumour relapse in bivariate analysis were: tumour location at petroclival and parasagittal (middle third) regions, incomplete surgical resection (assessed by Simpson's classification), atypical and malignant histological types (WHO classification), presence of nucleolar prominence, presence of more than 2 mitosis per 10 high-power fields, and heterogeneous tumour contrast enhancement on the CT scan. The multivariate analysis using the Cox's proportional hazards model identified the following risk factors for recurrence: incomplete surgical resection (Relative risk: 2.2; 95% Confidence interval: 1.33-3.64), non conventional histological type (RR: 2.13; 95%CI: 1-4.53), heterogeneous contrast enhancement on the CT scan (RR: 2.25; 95%CI: 1.1-4.72) and presence of more than 2 mitosis per 10 high-power fields (RR: 2.28; 95%CI: 0.99-5.27). Patients without any of these features showed low recurrence rates (4% and 18% at 5 and 10 years), and thus, they need less clinical and radiological controls through the follow-up than patients with some of these risk factors.

Age and clinical grade on admission are the most important factors influencing the final outcome of patients suffering aneurysmal SAH. A reappraisal of the WFNS grading scale should be considered as no significant differences in outcome were found between some of its grades.

The anatomical substrate of TBI depicted by MRI could be a useful prognostic tool in patients suffering moderate and severe head injury. Patients with a score of 4 or less on the motor subscale of the GCS scale are those who could benefit most from the prognostic information provided by MRI.

The authors analysed the serial computerized tomography (CT) findings in a large series of severely head injured patients in order to assess the variability in gross intracranial pathology through the acute posttraumatic period and determine the most common patterns of CT change. A second aim was to compare the prognostic significance of the different CT diagnostic categories used in the study (Traumatic Coma Data Bank CT pathological classification) when gleaned either from the initial (postadmission) or the control CT scans, and determine the extent to which having a second CT scan provides more prognostic information than only one scan. 92 patients (13.3% of the total population) died soon after injury. Of the 587 who survived long enough to have at least one control CT scan 23.6% developed new diffuse brain swelling, and 20.9% new focal mass lesions most of which had to be evacuated. The relative risk for requiring a delayed operation as related to the diagnostic category established by using the initial CT scans was by decreasing order: diffuse injury IV (30.7%), diffuse injury III (30.5%), non evacuated mass (20%), evacuated mass (20.2%), diffuse injury II (12.1%), and diffuse injury I (8.6%). Overall, 51.2% of the patients developed significant CT changes (for worse or better) occurring either spontaneously or following surgery, and their final outcomes were more closely related to the control than to the initial CT diagnoses. In fact, the final outcome was more accurately predicted by using the control CT scans (81.2% of the cases) than by using the initial CT scans (71.5% of the cases only). Since the majority of relevant CT changes developed within 48 hours after injury a pathological categorization made by using an early control CT scan seems to be most useful for prognostic purposes. Prognosis associated with the CT pathological categories used in the study was similar independently of the moment of the acute posttraumatic period at which diagnoses were made.

Hydrocephalus was observed in 27.4% of the patients with severe traumatic brain injury who required DC. The presence of IHHs was a predictive radiological sign of hydrocephalus development within the first 6 months of DC in patients with severe head injury.