Clinical Outcome of Microsurgical Excision of Tumors of the Ventricular Trigone

Background: Tumors of the trigone of the lateral ventricle are difficult challenge due to their location within eloquent brain surface especially on the dominant side. In addition the deep and often obscure arterial supply and deep venous drainage make surgical excision hazardous. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome of sixteen consecutive patients treated by microsurgical resection of trigone tumors. Patients and Methods: The authors reviewed their clinic data archive from 2005 through 2015. Patients symptoms, radiographs, intraoperative findings, and clinical results were evaluated. The surgical outcome was established with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) measured at admission and postoperatively at the last follow-up. Results: The study included seven men and nine women with a mean age of 35.8 years (range 2–59 years).Symptoms included headache, intracranial hypertension, convulsions and visual obscuration. All patients underwent microsurgical resection through posterior parietal cortical approach. Pathology showed nine meningiomas, three choroid plexus papillomas, two ependymomas and two glioblastoma multiforme. The neurological status according to the modified Rankin Scale improved in eleven patients and remained the same in three patients. Conclusion: The parietal approach through the intraparietal sulcus is the best choice for virtually all cases with trigone ventricular tumors. It provides a straight line pathway to lateral ventricle s trigone, in the shortest route and avoids the neurological morbidity to the patient.