REVIEW  CURRENT TREATMENTS FOR EPENDYMOMA Free access

Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences 2018 February;62(1):63-70

DOI: 10.23736/S0390-5616.17.04190-X

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Surgery for posterior fossa ependymomas in adults

Yosef LAVIV ¹ ✉, Isabelle M. GERMANO ², Anand MAHADEVAN ³, Ekkehard M. KASPER ⁴

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Rabin Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Petah Tikva, Israel; ² Department of Neurosurgery, The Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; ³ Department of Radiation Oncology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; ⁴ Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Ependymomas of the posterior fossa in adults are relatively rare, represent less than 1% of adult intracranial gliomas. Most of the cases are WHO grade II. Due to their rarity, there are no randomized studies regarding the best management of these tumors. It seems that surgical resection has a major role in their management. Unlike the scenario in children, these tumors can be cured by gross total resection without adjuvant therapy in the majority of cases. Hence, knowing the different surgical approaches, with their pros and cons, is important in order to offer the patient the best treatment. In this paper, we review the current literature on surgery for ependymomas of the posterior fossa in adults, and the advantages and risks of the principal surgical approaches, namely the telo-velar and the transvermian, are discussed.

KEY WORDS: Ependymoma - Posterior fossa - Telovelar - Transvermian