Cysts in malignant gliomas

Abstract

The clinical course, computerized tomography (CT) scans and postmortem reports for 265 patients treated for malignant brain tumors were reviewed. Patients (41) underwent reoperation for tumor recurrence and 1 had needle aspiration as a diagnostic procedure; of these patients, 7 (3% of 265 and 17% of 42) were diagnosed as harboring tumor cysts and 10 (25% of 41) as having necrotic tumor centers. The CT scans on the 17 patients harboring tumors with surgically confirmed cysts and necrotic centers were reviewed; criteria for distinguishing between cysts and central necrosis are suggested. The relative benefits of repeated aspiration and surgical therapy for these cystic lesions are discussed.