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Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between the degrees of circumferential decompression of the optic canal (OC) and the improvement of visual acuity in patients with parasellar meningiomas (PMs) with optic canal invasion., Methods: This is a monocentric retrospective study conducted at author's institution. The visual acuity was evaluated preoperative and at 3-months after surgery with Snellen acuity test. The degree of decompression of the OC was calculated through postoperative multiplanar CT-scan reconstructions in coronal plane at intraorbital opening (IOO), intracranial opening (ICO) and middle point between them (MP). OC was then divided in two segments (anterior and posterior)., Results: 29 consecutive patients were identified. Improvement of visual acuity was observed in 18 patients (62 %). Mean decompression achieved at ICO, MP and IOO was 226.2°± 43.6° (range: 68.7°-297.1°), 217.5°± 37.2° (range: 75.3°-268.7°) and 204.6°± 41.2° (range: 67.3°-252.6°) respectively. A decompression > 90° of the anterior segment of the OC, a decompression > 180° of the posterior segment and a full-length decompression > 90° were associated visual acuity improvement at univariate analysis (p = 0.010, p = 0.002 and p < 0.001, respectively). A decompression > 180° of the posterior segment and a full-length decompression > 90° of the OC maintained statistical significance at multivariate analysis (p = 0.030 and p = 0.035, respectively)., Conclusion: Anterior segment decompression > 90° and posterior segment decompression > 180° were associated with improvement of visual acuity at 3 months after surgery. A full-length decompression of the optic canal > 90° showed better visual outcome, while a full-length decompression > 180° did not seem to be related to significative improvements in visual acuity., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Olfactory groove meningiomas (OGMs) account for 8-13 % of all intracranial meningiomas. The gold standard of treatment is generally surgery, however various approaches have been used and the literature is still uncertain about the superiority of one treatment over the others. The most debated techniques are traditional microscopic open approaches versus the endoscopic endonasal ones. The aim of this paper is to prove a valid surgical route that gathers the benefits of both endoscopic and transcranial routes., Methods: Fifty consecutive patients underwent trans-frontal sinus surgical removal of an OGM between January 2000 and January 2019 at the Neurosurgical Departments in Torino, Brescia and Legnano (Italy). The clinical features were collected in a database and compared with neuroimaging and outcomes. All patients were investigated with neuroimaging techniques. Clinical evaluations were performed 3-4 months and 1 year after surgery, together with neuroradiological follow-up., Results: All patients with OGM underwent Simpson grade I resection. The most common neurological symptom leading to neuroradiological evaluations were headaches (36 %), followed by behavioural changes (30 %), hyposmia/anosmia (12 %), visual impairments (6%) and focal deficits (6%). At 3-4 months follow-up 48 patients underwent a brain MRI (2 patients underwent a brain CT), and a complete resection was confirmed in 45 patients (94 %)., Conclusions: Despite different techniques and studies supported by good evidence, there is no consensus on the best surgical approach for OGMs. The data shown in this article suggests that the trans-frontal sinus approach is a valid alternative to an endoscopic approach and the classical transcranial routes, collecting benefits from both approaches., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to translate new evidence about management of spinal metastases in a practical and reliable score for surgeons, radiation oncologists and oncologists, able to establish the need for surgery regardless the available technology and settings., Patients and Methods: Three main items were identified and graded: Neurological status (0-5 points), Stability of the spine according to the Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) Score (0-5 points), and Epidural compression according to the Epidural Spinal Cord Compression (ESCC) scale (0-3 points). Patients were considered suitable for surgery with ASA score < 4 and ECOG score <3. A retrospective clinical validation of the NSE score was made on 145 patients that underwent surgical or non surgical treatment., Results: Agreement between the undertaken treatment and the score (88.3% of patients), resulted in a strong association with improvement or preservation of clinical status (neurological functions and mechanical pain) (p < 0.001) at 3 and 6 months. In the non-agreement group no association was recorded at the 3 and 6 months follow-up (p 0.486 and 0.343 for neurological functions, 0.063 and 0.858 for mechanical pain)., Conclusion: Functional outcomes of the study group showed that the proposed NSE score could represent a practical and reliable tool to establish the need for surgery. Agreement between the score and the performed treatments resulted in better clinical outcomes, when compared with patients without agreement. Further validation is needed with a larger number of patients and to assess reproducibility among surgeons, radiation oncologists, and oncologists., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)