Surgical treatment of intracranial epidermoid tumors: a retrospective analysis of 29 surgically treated patients

• Published in: Pamukkale Medical Journal 2020-09, Vol.13 (3), p.677
• Main Authors: OKTAY, Kadir, GUZEL, Ebru, DEMİRCİ, Adnan, SEVER, Özlem Nuray, KAYA, Vildan, AKPINAR, Elif, YILDIRIM, Mustafa, GÜZEL, Aslan, SEÇKİN, Hakan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Patients; Tumors
• ISSN: 1309-9833; 1308-0865
• DOI: 10.31362/patd.670647

Objective: Intracranial epidermoid tumors are benign, slow-growing, rare tumors. Although they are placed in different regions of the brain and cranium, they are predominantly located in the cerebellopontine angle and temporal region. In the present study, clinical findings and tumor location of epidermoid tumors, surgical methods and their results were examined. Materials and Methods: Medical records of 29 patients with intracranial epidermoid tumors diagnosed between 2012-2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Results: There were 16 female and 13 male patients in the study cohort. Tumors were located in cerebellopontine angle in 16 patients and other regions in 13 patients. Two of the 16 patients with tumors originating from cerebellopontine angle had both infra and supratentorial extension. One of these patients underwent subtotal resection in two sessions via retrosigmoid and subtemporal approaches. The tumor was excised except for the capsule adherent to eloquent vascular structures. The other patient underwent gross total resection with a single session via subtemporal approach. The other 14 cases were only infratentorial. In 25 patients gross total resection was performed and subtotal resection was performed in 4 patients. There were postoperative complications in 4 patients. One patient, whose tumor was adherent to the brainstem was lost in the postoperative period. There was no recurrence in any of the patients. Conclusion: The main purpose of treatment of intracranial epidermoid tumors should be gross total tumor resection by surgical intervention. However, subtotal resection may be performed by leaving a capsule adherent to eloquent neurovascular structures that may cause morbidity and mortality. The risk of recurrence of tumors in which total resection performed is very low.