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Fully neuroendoscopic resection of cerebellopontine angle tumors through a retrosigmoid approach: a retrospective single-center study

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to preliminarily investigate the surgical safety, efficacy, techniques, and clinical value of fully neuroendoscopic surgery for the resection of cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors via a retrosigmoid approach. The clinical data of 47 cerebellopontine angle area (CPA) tumors that were treated by full neuroendoscopic surgery from June 2014 to June 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The efficacy and advantages of the surgical techniques were evaluated based on indicators such as duration of the surgery, neuroendoscopic techniques, intraoperative integrity of nerves and blood vessels, extent of tumor resection, outcomes or postoperative symptoms, and incidence of complications. The 47 cases of cerebellopontine angle tumors include 34 cases of epidermoid cysts, 7 cases of vestibular schwannomas, and 6 cases of meningiomas. All patients underwent fully neuroendoscopic surgery. Twenty tumors were removed using the one-surgeon two-hands technique, and 27 tumors were removed using the two-surgeons four-hands technique. The anatomical integrity of the affected cranial nerves was preserved in all 47 cases. None of the patients suffered a postoperative hemorrhage, cerebrospinal fluid leak, and aseptic or septic meningitis, or died. The rate of total tumor resection was 72.3% (34/47), and the symptom improvement rate was 89.4% (42/47). All patients were followed up for 2 to 12 months, and none died nor showed any signs of tumor recurrence. By analyzing 47 fully neuroendoscopic resections of CPA tumors using the posterior sigmoid sinus approach in our center, we believe that such method allows complete, safe, and effective resection of CPA tumors and is thereby worthy of clinical promotion.

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All data and materials used in this study can be obtained from the corresponding authors according to reasonable requirements.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (82203760) and Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2020QH182, ZR2020MH158, and ZR2022MH155).

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  1. Hengrui Zhang and Jiwei Wang contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Qilu Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine and Institute of Brain and Brain-Inspired Science, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China

    Hengrui Zhang, Jiwei Wang, Junzhi Liu, Zexin Cao, Xuchen Liu, Haoyong Jin, Wenyu Liu, Zhiwei Xue, Ning Yang, Chao Li & Xinyu Wang

  2. Jinan Microecological Biomedicine Shandong Laboratory and Shandong Key Laboratory of Brain Function Remodeling, Jinan, 250117, China

    Hengrui Zhang, Jiwei Wang, Junzhi Liu, Zexin Cao, Xuchen Liu, Haoyong Jin, Wenyu Liu, Zhiwei Xue, Ning Yang, Chao Li & Xinyu Wang

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Contributions

Hengrui Zhang and Jiwei Wang were responsible for collecting data and writing articles, were co-first authors of this paper. Junzhi Liu, Zexin Cao, Xuchen Liu, Haoyong Jin and Wenyu Liu were responsible for sorting out data. Zhiwei Xue and Ning Yang were responsible for following up. Chao Li and Xinyu Wang were responsible for putting forward ideas and reviewing articles, were co-corresponding authors of this paper. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chao Li or Xinyu Wang.

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Zhang, H., Wang, J., Liu, J. et al. Fully neuroendoscopic resection of cerebellopontine angle tumors through a retrosigmoid approach: a retrospective single-center study. Neurosurg Rev 47, 14 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10143-023-02244-5

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