Because surgery is the only effective treatment modality for these lesions, radical resection should be performed in all cases to avoid tumor recurrence; however, because the cyst capsule can adhere firmly to vital structures and attempts at its radical removal can be dangerous, subtotal resection may be a wise option in selected cases.

These results in Brazilian patients reinforce the external validation of previous findings in Canadian patients showing that presurgical depression and complete seizure control after surgery are independent predictors for meaningful improvement in QOL after ATL, and have implications for the surgical management of MTLE patients.

The authors describe the case of a 12-year-old girl with Marfan syndrome, sacral dural ectasia, and tonsillar herniation, who presented with headache. Initially, it was hypothesized that the headaches were secondary to the tonsillar herniation, and the patient consequently underwent surgical decompression of the foramen magnum. Postoperatively, the patient's condition did not improve, and additional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging demonstrated evidence of a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak at the level of the dural ectasia. It was surmised that the girl's symptoms were due to spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) and that the tonsillar herniation was caused by the leakage. The patient responded well to application of a blood patch at the level of the demonstrated leak, and her headache resolved. This appears to be the first reported case of a patient with Marfan syndrome presenting with a symptomatic spontaneous CSF leak complicated by tonsillar herniation. In this rare association of SIH and connective tissue disorders, recognition of the clinical signs and typical MR imaging features of SIH may lead to more appropriate and less invasive treatment, potentially avoiding surgery.