English

Abstract

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intracranial lesions eroding the calvarium and presenting as bony swellings of the scalp. This kind of presentation is usually rare. This is because intracranial tumours usually manifest early with focal neurological deficits, seizures or features of raised intracranial pressure. Only a few patients, in whom the intracranial lesions, despite being present for a long duration, do not have neurological manifestations but erode the overlying bone and may present as bony swellings of the scalp. We studied the clinical presentation of such lesions, analysed their radiological and histological characteristics. METHODS This is an observational study from October 2018 to September 2020. A total of thirteen cases were studied in the Department of Neurosurgery, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. After clinical examination, an appropriate diagnostic workup was done, and all the cases were taken up for surgery. The clinical behaviour and histopathological features of the lesions were analysed. RESULTS In our study of thirteen cases, the most common cause of an intracranial lesion presenting as bony scalp swelling is meningioma which comprised almost 53.8 %, the second most common lesion is secondaries. Others included fibrous dysplasia and malignant small blue round cell tumour. CONCLUSIONS Intracranial lesions eroding the bone and presenting as scalp swellings are rare. In our study, the spectrum of these scalp swellings has ranged from benign lesions like meningioma to malignant lesions like secondary deposits. KEYWORDS Bony Scalp Lesions, Intracranial Tumours with Bony Erosion, Dumbbell Brain Tumours