Background Surgery is the main treatment modality for intracranial meningiomas, but data on short-term surgical outcome are limited. The aim of this Swedish nationwide registry-based study was to benchmark the 30-day complication rate in a cohort of meningioma patients using data from the Swedish brain tumor registry (SBTR). Furthermore, we investigated outcomes for asymptomatic patients. Methods Data were collected from the SBTR for all adults with histopathologically verified intracranial meningioma between 2009 and 2015. Patient symptoms, tumor characteristics, and complications within 30 days postoperatively were analyzed. Results In total, 2324 patients, with a mean age of 58.7 years (SD 13.5), underwent surgery for intracranial meningioma and 14.1% of the patients were asymptomatic before the intervention. The most common symptom prior to treatment was focal deficit, which occurred in 1450 patients (62.4%). Moreover, within 30 days after surgery, 344 patients (14.8%) developed new neurological deficits and new-onset seizures occurred in 105 patients (4.5%), while 8.3% of asymptomatic patients developed neurological deficit and 3.7% new-onset seizures. Due to complications, reoperations were performed in 120 patients (5.2%). The postoperative 30-day mortality in the whole cohort was 1.5%. Conclusion This study benchmarks the 30-day complication rate after meningioma surgery and provides outcome data in the highly relevant group of asymptomatic patients using data from the Swedish brain tumor registry. Since surgical decision-making is a careful consideration of short-term risk versus long-term benefit, this information may be useful for both caregivers and patients.

Background Meningioma is the most common primary intracranial tumor. It is usually slow growing and benign, and surgery is the main treatment modality. There are limited data on return to work following meningioma surgery. The objective of this study was to determine the patterns of sick-leave rate prior to surgery, and up to 2 years after, in patients compared to matched controls. Methods Data on patients ages 18 to 60 years with histologically verified intracranial meningioma between 2009 and 2015 were identified in the Swedish Brain Tumor Registry (SBTR) and linked to 3 national registries after 5 matched controls were assigned to each patient. Results We analyzed 956 patients and 4765 controls. One year prior to surgery, 79% of meningioma patients and 86% of controls were working (P < .001). The proportion of patients at work 2 years after surgery was 57%, in contrast to 84% of controls (P < .001). Statistically significant negative predictors for return to work in patients 2 years after surgery were high (vs low) tumor grade, previous history of depression, amount of sick leave in the year preceding surgery, and surgically acquired neurological deficits. Conclusion There is a considerable risk for long term sick leave 2 years after meningioma surgery. Neurological impairment following surgery was a modifiable risk factor increasing the risk for long-term sick leave. More effective treatment of depression may facilitate return to work in this patient group.

Background: Vestibular Schwannoma (VS) is a benign neoplasm arising from the 8th cranial nerve, with surgery one of the treatment modalities. In a nation-wide registry study, we describe the baseline, treatment characteristics, and short-term outcome in patients surgically treated for VS.Methods: We performed a nationwide study with data from the Swedish Brain Tumor Registry (SBTR) for all adults diagnosed with VS 2009–2015. Patient symptoms, tumor characteristics, and postoperative complications were analyzed.Results: In total 348 patients underwent surgery for VS. Mean age was 50.6 ± 14.5 years and 165 patients (47.4%) were female. The most common symptom was focal neurological deficit (92.0%), with only 25 (7.2%) being asymptomatic prior to surgery, and 217 (63.6%) had no restriction in activity. Following surgery, 100 (28.7%) patients developed new deficit(s). In terms of postoperative complications; 11 (3.2%) had a hematoma, 35 (10.1%) an infection, 10 (2.9%) a venous thromboembolism, and 23 (6.6%) had a reoperation due to complication. There were no deaths within 30-days after surgery. When grouped according to tumor size (< 4 vs. ≥4 cm), those with ≥4 cm tumors were more often males (p = 0.02), had more often ICP related symptoms (p = 0.03) and shorter time from imaging to surgery (p < 0.01). Analysis of the younger (< 65 years) vs. elderly (≥65 years) revealed no difference in outcome except increased 1-year mortality (p = 0.002) in elderly.Conclusion: In this nation-wide registry-study, we benchmark the 30-day complication rate after VS surgery as collected by the SBTR. Further, we present the current neurosurgical outcome data from both VS smaller than 40 mm compared to larger tumors, as well as younger vs. elderly VS patients. Since surgical decision making is a careful consideration of short term risk vs. long term benefit, this information can be useful in clinical decision making.

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