Neuroendoscopic approach to tectal tumors: a consecutive series

Abstract

Neuroendoscopic procedures can provide histological diagnosis, define the tumor-midbrain interrelationship, and be highly effective in treating obstructive hydrocephalus and in removing tectal tumors. This procedure may receive clinical application as a new management strategy for tectal glioma.

Two-stage treatment of a tectal ganglioglioma: Endoscopic third ventriculostomy followed by surgical resection

“…[1][2][3]6 The majority are low-grade gliomas, and the adult variant seems to be even more benign than the paediatric one. 3 Gangliogliomas are mostly supratentorial, benign neoplasms, associated with chronic temporal lobe epilepsy, but can also involve the brainstem.…”

“…[1][2][3] Direct surgical removal offers the best chance of cure, if feasible, with minimal morbidity. [4][5][6][7] Whether or not excision is planned, drainage of hydrocephalus is mandatory.…”

Tectal Gliomas in Children: The Implications for Natural History and Management Strategy

“…Although we did not obtain any biopsies, we reviewed the literature and the pathology results of tectal lesions in 25 series to clarify the true nature of these lesions [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26](table 3). This literature review covered a total of 258 patients with tectal lesions, including biopsy results of 118 cases.…”

True aqueductal tumors: a unique entity

“…The limitations of this approach are the need for an additional endoscope, and the small biopsy samples obtained with the flexible endoscope. An alternative is to use the flexible endoscope to perform both the biopsy and the ETV [19]. The shortcoming of the flexible endoscope is its small lumen, which restricts the forceps size and subsequent biopsy size.…”

“…Most ATs are combined with other periaqueductal tumors including tectal, pineal, and/or posterior third ventricular tumors [4,19,30]. Similar to other "tectal region" lesions, aqueductal tumors tend to occlude the aqueduct and cause obstructive hydrocephalus; however, there are sparse data on the pathological spectrum of these tumors and their natural history [12].…”