Endoscopic Cyst Fenestration Outcomes in Children One Year of Age or Less

Abstract

The use of endoscopic fenestration (EF) is becoming an increasingly common treatment for symptomatic intracranial cysts. Very little data exist regarding outcomes for this procedure in children 1 year of age or younger. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of 8 children 1 year of age or less treated at our institution with endoscopic cyst fenestration. The mean follow-up was roughly 2.5 years. These data were combined with 17 other cases obtained from the published literature. EF was successful in rendering patients shunt-free or minimizing the number of ventricular catheters in 18 of 26 operations. There were 8 outright failures – two in 1 patient. Given the risks and complications of cerebrospinal fluid shunting in children less than 1 year of age, we advocate the consideration of EF as initial treatment of symptomatic intracranial cysts.

Neuroendoscopy for Intracranial Arachnoid Cysts in Infants: Therapeutic Considerations

“…14 Sikorski et al concluded that endoscopic fenestration is the preferred initial surgical management of symptomatic intracranial cysts in infants 1 year of age. 4 Pros and cons of different surgical options are described in ►Table 2.…”

“…Data about the outcome of intracranial cysts in adults have been well reported, but the comparable data in children < 1 year of age are still sparse. 4 In the present study, we evaluated the surgical approaches, indications, and outcome of endoscopic procedures performed at our institution for arachnoid cysts in different locations in infants and analyzed similar data reported in the literature.…”

Long-term results of cystoperitoneal shunt placement for the treatment of arachnoid cysts in children

“…But the risk of morbidity and mortality remains, 4,9 and recurrence has been reported. 9,25,28 The shunting procedure has proved to be simple and effective and has low rates of morbidity and mortality and high rates of successful cyst elimination. 8,27 Our data also showed that a CP shunt was an excellent option for the obliteration of large cysts in infants or young children.…”

Rare case of a rapidly enlarging symptomatic arachnoid cyst of the posterior fossa in an infant: A case report and review of the literature

“…Although very little data exist regarding the clinical characteristics of arachnoid cysts in infant cases, these characteristics have gradually become evident. [ 3 11 13 18 20 ] Lee et al . demonstrated differences in cyst localization between infants younger than 1 year of age and older children and adults, additionally indicating a much lower prevalence of PFACs in infants compared to adults.…”