Surgical Resection of Thalamic Tumors: A report of four cases

Abstract

Background: Thalamic tumors (TTs) are rare which represent about 4% of all brain tumors. Patients: The present study reports four cases of TTs Of which 3 cases were male and 1 female, aged 10 to 20 years (mean age= 14.2 years). Symptoms of raised intracranial pressure (75%), and hemiparesis (50%) were the most frequent manifestations in our TTs patients.. All patients had a low-grade glioma. All cases were operated through transcortical or transsylvian-transinsular approaches. Gross-total resection was accomplished in 3 patients and subtotal resection (STR) in 1. Although hydrocephalus was frequent, only 2 patients required a ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement. After the follow-up period (average time of 12 months, range 3–24 months), adjuvant therapy was not administered for our patients. At the last clinical visit, 4 patients were alive, of which 3 cases showed the normal neurological examination results. The outcomes for the remaining patients were classified as mild (n=3) and moderate disability (n=1). Conclusion: In thalamic tumor patients, prompt diagnosis and treatment are essential to reduce the neurological morbidity and the risk of death. It seems, thalamic tumors can be resected with low mortality and morbidity.