Turkish Neurosurgery 2012 , Vol 22 , Num 2
Unilateral Frontal Interhemispheric Transfalcial Approaches for the Removal of Olfactory Groove Meninjiomas
Ahmet Murat MUSLUMAN1, Adem YILMAZ1, Tufan CANSEVE R2, Halit CAVUSOGLU1, Okan KAHYAOGLU1, Yunus AYDIN1
1Sisli Etfal Research and Education Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey
2Baskent University, Istanbul Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.4749-11.1 AIM: A unilateral subfrontal interhemispheric transfalcial approach for the removal of olfactory groove meningiomas (OGM) was evaluated in terms of surgical technique, complications, clinical outcomes, and recurrence rate.

MATERIAL and METHODS: Twenty-four females and eighteen males with a mean age of 59 years were operated on for OGM within a 12- year (1996–2008) period. The pre- and post-operative Mini-Mental Test (MMT) scores, visual impairment scores (VIS), pre-operative clinical symptoms (headache, epileptic seizure and anosmia), Karnofsky performance scores (KPS), tumor size and tumor extensions were evaluated. The effects of the pre-operative parameters on post-operative MMT, VIS and KPS were investigated.

RESULTS: Tumor size and pre-operative MMT significantly affected pre-operative KPS. Mean tumor diameter was 5.6±0.8 cm. Total excision was achieved in 97.6% of all cases. No peri-operative mortality was seen. Ten patients (23.8%) experienced surgery-related complications. The mean follow-up period of cases was 52 months, and the rate of residual tumor re-growth was 2.3%. No parameter showed any effect on post-operative KPS, as no significant difference was seen between pre- and post-operative KPS. A significant positive difference was detected between pre- and post-operative MMT and VIS.

CONCLUSION: A unilateral subfrontal interhemispheric transfalcial approach can be the preferred modality for treating OGM. Keywords : Olfactory groove meningioma, Unilateral, Surgical approach, Outcome, Recurrence

Corresponding author : Ahmet Murat Musluman, mmusluman@yahoo.com