Peritumoral and intratumoral hemorrhage after stereotactic radiosurgery for renal cell carcinoma metastasis to the brain

Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), provides in a single session, a high dose of radiation to a localized brain tumor volume. Acute adverse reactions after treatment are not uncommon, but are usually transient and generally are well controlled by medication. The authors wish to report this rare complication of intratumoral and peritumoral hemorrhage immediately after LINAC SRS treatment of single temporal lobe metastasis from renal cell carcinoma and discuss plausible causes for this case and its management. A review of the literature on acute intracranial hemorrhage after radiosurgery for metastatic lesions is provided. A 68-year-old man underwent SRS treatment for a single left temporal lobe metastasis. No complications were noticed during frame fixation, treatment itself, or frame removal. Thirty minutes after the end of treatment session the patient acutely became aphasic and right hemiplegic. An urgent CT-scan revealed peritumoral and intratumoral hemorrhage. Patient underwent urgent surgical treatment during which was performed gross total excision of the brain metastasis and total removal of the clot. The patient had a good recovery after surgery and he was discharged with moderate aphasia but able to walk with no other neurological deficits. Stereotactic radiosurgery for metastatic brain tumors should not be considered as a risk-free procedure, especially in cases of neoplasms with high propensity for intratumoral bleeding and, while extremely rare, hemorrhagic complications can occur after treatment. The possibility of acute complications and their consequences have to be discussed with the patient and his or her relatives before radiosurgical treatment.