Management of Hemangioblastomas

Objective: The aim of this paper is to present our experience in the management of hemangioblastomas. Material and Method: ten patients with sporadic hemangioblastomas (6 male and 4 female; range 4-75 years) were analyzed. Central ventriculography, cerebral arteriogram, cranial CT scan and head MRI (MR spectroscopy and diffusion MRI) were performed. Location was at cerebellum in 8 patients, left occipital lobe in 1 and brain stem in 1. Nine patients were surgically treated and 1 patient underwent stereotactic radiosurgery due to tumour location in the brainstem and surgery was clinically contraindicated. Results: Only onerecurrence occurred in a 4-year-old patient who had undergone subtotal resection and had to be operated 10 years later due to tumor growth. Two patients died; one subject during the immediate post-operative period due to massive gastrointestinal bleeding and cardiac arrest and the other due to myocardial infarction 25 years after surgery. The 8 surviving patients currently present with normal neurological status and have perfectly normal lives, including the subject who underwent stereotactic radiosurgery of brainstem. The survival rate of these patients is 1-16 years.