Predictive measures and outcomes of extent of resection in juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma

The present study aims to determine the tumor-related, clinical, and demographic factors associated with extent of resection (EOR) and post-operative outcomes in JPA patients.All patients with JPA, identified from a single-center brain tumour data base, were included in this retrospective analysis. Pre-operative MRI scans were reviewed by a single neurosurgeon blinded to the EOR. JPA cases that exhibited no residual tumor post-operatively were assigned to the GTR group, all other tumors were assigned to theGTR group. Tumor-related, clinical and demographic variables as well as perioperative morbidities were compared between both groups.Of the 28 patients included, 15 had a GTR (46% male; median age: 7.5 years; range: 1.16-14.9) and 13 hadGTR (69.2% male; median age: 10.6 years; range: 0.66-17.68). Tumor location reached statistical significance, as there were significantly more cerebellar tumors in the GTR group (86.7%) compared to theGTR group (38.5%) (p = 0.016). GTR cases had a significantly longer average follow-up interval (6.6 months) thanGTR cases (4.5 months) (p = 0.031). All demographic variables, clinical variables and tumor-related factors showed no significant differences between the two groups. There were no differences between GTR andGTR cases in terms of perioperative outcomes.This study shows other than location of the lesion in the cerebellum, demographic, clinical and tumor-related variables are not associated with EOR in children with JPA. GTR was associated with an extended follow-up interval but not with increased perioperative morbidities compared to those withGTR.