OBJECTIVE Multiple meningiomas account for 1%-10% of meningiomas. This study describes epidemiological aspects of the disease and its management, which is more challenging than for single tumors. METHODS A consecutive series of adult patients with ≥ 2 spatially separated meningiomas was reviewed. Patients with neurofibromatosis Type 2 were excluded. The authors collected clinical, imaging, histological, and treatment data to obtain information on epidemiology, management options, and outcomes of active treatment and surveillance. RESULTS A total of 133 consecutive patients were included over 25 years, with a total of 395 synchronous and 53 metachronous meningiomas, and a median of 2 tumors per patient. One hundred six patients had sporadic disease, 26 had radiation-induced disease, and 1 had familial meningiomatosis. At presentation, half of the patients were asymptomatic. In terms of their maximum cross-sectional diameter, the tumors were small (≤ 2 cm) in 67% and large (> 4 cm) in 11% of the meningiomas. Fifty-four patients had upfront treatment, and 31 had delayed treatment after an observation period (mean 4 years). One in 4 patients had ≥ 2 meningiomas treated. Overall, 64% of patients had treatment for 142 tumors-67 with surgery and 18 with radiotherapy alone. The mean follow-up was 7 years, with 13% of treated patients receiving salvage therapy. Approximately 1 in 4 patients who underwent surgery had ≥ 1 WHO Grade II or III meningioma. Meningiomas of different histological subtypes and grades in the same patient were not uncommon. CONCLUSIONS Multiple meningiomas are often asymptomatic, probably because the majority are small and a significant proportion are induced by radiation. Approximately two-thirds of patients with multiple meningiomas require therapy, but only one-third of all meningiomas need active treatment. The authors recommend surveillance for stable and asymptomatic meningiomas and therapy for those that are symptomatic or growing.

OBJECT The authors report their experience with the use of a minimally invasive hemilaminectomy approach for the excision of intradural extramedullary (IDEM) tumors of the spinal cord. METHODS Included were 164 consecutive patients (167 tumors in total), treated between January 2004 and December 2014, in whom the hemilaminectomy approach for IDEM spinal cord tumors was planned. The clinicoradiological data of patients presenting to Christian Medical College were analyzed retrospectively using a computerized chart-review method. Preoperative MRI localization was used in 51 cases. RESULTS The mean age (± SD) of the patients was 42.6 ± 16.6 years, and the mean duration of symptoms was 20.8 ± 27.8 months. The average tumor size was 2.4 ± 1.7 cm. Forty-four tumors were cervical, 5 were cervicothoracic, 72 were thoracic, 7 were thoracolumbar, and 39 were lumbar. Forty-two tumors were ventrally located, whereas 11 were ventrolateral; the rest were either dorsal or dorsolateral. The most common pathologies were schwannoma (110 cases) and meningioma (31 cases). Total excision was achieved for 93% of the tumors. The average duration of surgery was 1.6 ± 0.6 hours. CONCLUSIONS The hemilaminectomy approach to the removal of intradural tumors was quick and safe and resulted in minimal morbidity and no mortality. Preoperative MRI localization improved accuracy and reduced operating time by eliminating the need for intraoperative fluoroscopy.

Purpose To document the neurological outcome, spinal alignment and segmental range of movement after oblique cervical corpectomy (OCC) for cervical compressive myelopathy. Methods This retrospective study included 109 patients-93 with cervical spondylotic myelopathy and 16 with ossified posterior longitudinal ligament in whom spinal curvature and range of segmental movements were assessed on neutral and dynamic cervical radiographs. Neurological function was measured by Nurick's grade and modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores. Eighty-eight patients (81%) underwent either a single-or two-level corpectomy; the remaining (19%) undergoing three-or four-level corpectomies. The average duration of follow-up was 30.52 months. Results The Nurick's grade and the JOA scores showed statistically significant improvements after surgery (p \ 0.001). The mean postoperative segmental angle in the neutral position straightened by 4.7 ± 6.5°. The residual segmental range of movement for a single-level corpectomy was 16.7°(59.7% of the preoperative value), for two-level corpectomy it was 20.0°(67.2%) and for three-level corpectomies it was 22.9°(74.3%). 63% of patients with lordotic spines continued to have lordosis postoperatively while only one became kyphotic without clinical worsening. Four patients with preoperative kyphotic spines showed no change in spine curvature. None developed spinal instability. Conclusions The OCC preserves segmental motion in the short-term, however, the tendency towards straightening of the spine, albeit without clinical worsening, warrants serial follow-up imaging to determine whether this motion preservation is long lasting.

A discrepAncy between surgeon-assessed and patient-perceived outcomes of vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery has been reported. 16,19,22 Hence, there is a need for greater emphasis on quality of life (QOL) outcomes (which are patient reported) following surgery for VS. Most of the QOL studies in patients undergoing surgery for VS are retrospective and include patients with small tumors. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]14,18,21,23,27,28,31 Few studies have reported QOL following surgery for large VS, but even those have mostly been retrospective in nature. 22,25One of the major deficiencies in QOL studies on VS patients is the lack of a planned prospective comparison between QOL values before and after treatment in large cohorts of patients. 10,11 The few published prospective studies involved patients with small VSs (< 3 cm). 20,24,26 To our knowledge there is only one prospective report of QOL in patients with larger tumors (> 3 cm), and that study involved 37 patients. 8None of the reports of QOL in patients with VS have included the proportion of patients showing a minimum clinically important difference (MCID) in the different QOL domains. Surgeons need to know whether an observed change in score represents a clinically important improvement or deterioration rather than merely an inconsequential fluctuation. Differences in scores smaller than the MCID are considered unimportant, regardless of whether statistical significance is reached. To date, such information has not been provided in any published report on QOL in VS patients.We aimed to study the factors affecting QOL in pa- OBJect Prospective studies of quality of life (QOL) are infrequently performed in patients undergoing surgery for vestibular schwannoma (VS). The authors designed this to study to investigate health-related QOL (HR-QOL) in patients with large and giant VSs before and after surgery. methOdS Between January 2009 and December 2012, HR-QOL was measured prospectively before and after surgery, using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), in 100 patients who underwent surgery for unilateral large or giant VS (tumor size ≥ 3 cm). The Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) was also used to evaluate the effect of surgery. reSultS A total of 100 patients were included in the study (65 men and 35 women). Their mean age (± SD) was 44.2 ± 11.5 years. The preoperative QOL was decreased in all SF-36 domains. A 1-year follow-up evaluation was conducted for all patients (mean 13.5 ± 5.3 months after surgery). The results showed an improvement in HR-QOL compared with preoperative status in all cases, with 63%-85% of patients showing a minimum clinically important difference (MCID) in various domains. A second follow-up evaluation was performed in 51 cases (mean time after surgery, 29.0 ± 8.3 months) and showed sustained improvement in SF-36 scores. In some domains there was further improvement beyond the first follow-up. On the GBI, 87% of patients reported improvement, 1% felt no change, and 12% of patients reported deterioration. cONcluSiONS Patients harboring l...

The OCC is a safe procedure with good outcomes and a low morbidity for treating cervical cord compression due to CSM. This procedure avoids graft-related complications associated with the central corpectomy, but is technically demanding.