Radiation necrosis of the brain after radiosurgery for vestibular schwannoma

Djalilian, Hamid R.; Benson, Aaron G.; Ziai, Kasra; Safai, Yalda; Thakkar, Kunal H.; Mafee, Mahmood F.

doi:10.1016/j.amjoto.2006.09.008

« Previous Next »American Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Medicine and Surgery
Volume 28, Issue 5 , Pages 338-341, September 2007

Radiation necrosis of the brain after radiosurgery for vestibular schwannoma

Presented at the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting, Boca Raton, FL, May 15, 2005.

Hamid R. Djalilian, MD
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange, CA, USA
- Corresponding author. Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Building 25, 101 The City Drive South, Orange, CA 92868, USA. Tel.: +1 714 456 5753; fax: +1 714 456 5747.
Aaron G. Benson, MD
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Kasra Ziai, BS
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange, CA, USA
Yalda Safai, BS
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange, CA, USA
Kunal H. Thakkar, MD
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Mahmood F. Mafee, MD
- Department of Radiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

Received 23 August 2006

Abstract

Objective

The objective of this study was to obtain a better understanding of radiation-induced brain necrosis after stereotactic radiation therapy for vestibular schwannomas.

Study design

We conducted a retrospective case analysis.

Setting

The study took place at a tertiary referral center.

Patients

We report on the case of a patient treated with stereotactic radiation who developed radiation-induced necrosis of the ipsilateral temporal lobe.

Intervention

The various interventions in patients with radiation-induced necrosis include steroid treatment, decompression, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy; these are discussed briefly in this article. Owing to the limited symptoms in our patient, she was observed.

Main outcome measure

The outcome measure that we evaluated was radiation-induced necrosis of the brain after stereotactic radiation therapy for a vestibular schwannoma.

Results

Patients who undergo stereotactic radiation therapy for vestibular schwannomas are at risk for radiation-induced brain necrosis.

Conclusion

We support the development of a national database that would track the long-term complications of stereotactic radiation therapy to help patients make a more informed decision for the treatment of their vestibular schwannomas.