For patients diagnosed with a meningioma and treated with CA, medication withdrawal followed by observation should be the first line of treatment. Care should be taken with long-term use of high doses of CA, and serial brain MRIs should be considered after several years of CA.

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OBJECTIVE Craniocervical junction (CCJ) chordomas are a neurosurgical challenge because of their deep localization, lateral extension, bone destruction, and tight relationship with the vertebral artery and lower cranial nerves. In this study, the authors present their surgical experience with the endoscope-assisted far-lateral transcondylar approach (EA-FLTA) for the treatment of CCJ chordomas, highlighting the advantages of this corridor and the integration of the endoscope to reach the anterior aspect and contralateral side of the CCJ and the possibility of performing occipitocervical fusion (OCF) during the same stage of surgery. METHODS Nine consecutive cases of CCJ chordomas treated with the EA-FLTA between 2013 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Preoperative characteristics, surgical technique, postoperative results, and clinical outcome were analyzed. A cadaveric dissection was also performed to clarify the anatomical landmarks. RESULTS The male/female ratio was 1.25, and the median age was 36 years (range 14–53 years). In 6 patients (66.7%), the lesion showed a bilateral extension, and 7 patients (77.8%) had an intradural extension. The vertebral artery was encased in 5 patients. Gross-total resection was achieved in 5 patients (55.6%), near-total resection in 3 (33.3%), and subtotal resection 1 (11.1%). In 5 cases, the OCF was performed in the same stage after tumor removal. Neither approach-related complications nor complications related to tumor resection occurred. During follow-up (median 18 months, range 5–48 months), 1 patient, who had already undergone treatment and radiotherapy at another institution and had an aggressive tumor (Ki-67 index of 20%), showed tumor recurrence at 12 months. CONCLUSIONS The EA-FLTA provides a safe and effective corridor to resect extensive and complex CCJ chordomas, allowing the surgeon to reach the anterior, lateral, and posterior portions of the tumor, and to treat CCJ instability in a single stage.

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BACKGROUND The behavior of meningiomas under influence of progestin therapy remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between growth kinetics of intracranial meningiomas and usage of the progestin cyproterone acetate (PCA). METHODS This study prospectively followed 108 women with 262 intracranial meningiomas and documented PCA use. A per-meningioma analysis was conducted. Changes in meningioma volumes over time, and meningioma growth velocities, were measured on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after stopping PCA treatment. RESULTS Mean follow-up time was 30 (standard deviation [SD] 29) mo. Ten (4%) meningiomas were treated surgically at presentation. The other 252 meningiomas were followed after stopping PCA treatment. Overall, followed meningiomas decreased their volumes by 33% on average (SD 28%). A total of 188 (72%) meningiomas decreased, 51 (20%) meningiomas remained stable, and 13 (4%) increased in volume of which 3 (1%) were surgically treated because of radiological progression during follow-up after PCA withdrawal. In total, 239 of 262 (91%) meningiomas regressed or stabilized during follow-up. Subgroup analysis in 7 women with 19 meningiomas with follow-up before and after PCA withdrawal demonstrated that meningioma growth velocity changed statistically significantly (P = .02). Meningiomas grew (average velocity of 0.25 mm3/day) while patients were using PCA and shrank (average velocity of −0.54 mm3/day) after discontinuation of PCA. CONCLUSION Ninety-one percent of intracranial meningiomas in female patients with long-term PCA use decrease or stabilize on MRI after stopping PCA treatment. Meningioma growth kinetics change significantly from growth during PCA usage to shrinkage after PCA withdrawal.

BACKGROUND Preoperative interpretation of resectability of diffuse nonenhancing glioma is primarily based on individual surgical expertise. OBJECTIVE To compare the accuracy and precision between observed resections and preoperative estimates of neurosurgeons and a resection probability map (RPM). We hypothesize that the RPM estimates is as good as senior neurosurgeons. METHODS A total of 234 consecutive patients were included from 2 centers, who had resective surgery with functional mapping between 2006 and 2012 for a supra-tentorial nonenhancing glioma. Extent of resection (EOR) and residual tumor volume (RTV) were segmented and an RPM was constructed in standard brain space. Three junior and three senior neurosurgeons estimated EOR and RTV, blinded for postoperative results. We determined the agreement between the estimates and calculated the diagnostic accuracy of the neurosurgeons and the RPM to predict the observed resections. RESULTS Preoperative estimates of resection results by junior and senior neurosurgeons were significantly biased towards overestimation of EOR (4.2% and 11.2%) and underestimation of RTV (4.3 and 9.0 mL), whereas estimates of the RPM were unbiased (−2.6% and −.2 mL, respectively). The limits of agreement were wide for neurosurgeons and for the RPM. The RPM was significantly more accurate in identifying patients in whom an EOR >40% was observed than neurosurgeons. CONCLUSION Neurosurgeons estimate preoperative resectability before surgery of a nonenhancing glioma rather accurate–with a small bias–and imprecise–with wide limits of agreement. An RPM provides unbiased resectability estimates, which can be useful for surgical decision-making, planning, and education.