چكيده لاتين :
Treatment of hydrocephalus in posterior fossa tumors in children is still a matter of
controversy and different centers have their own routines. In this regard, hospital records of all children
with posterior fossa tumors treated in our center during the interval of 1985-1995 were reviewed.
Patients’ demographic and diagnostic data were analyzed and the frequencies of shunting procedures
were determined. Fisher exact test was employed to compare the frequency of postoperative
complications in different groups. A total of 108 patients with age ranging from 3 months to 18 years
and a male to female ratio of 1.5 comprised the study population. Ninety-nine cases had hydrocephalus
at the time of diagnosis and 81 patients underwent preoperative shunting. Of the remaining 18 patients,
13 underwent external ventricular drainage at tumor operation session plus preoperative corticosteroid
therapy. The rest of the patients got no primary treatment for hydrocephalus. Three of these 5 patients
had postoperative shunting after tumor removal, but the other 2 remained shunt free. The rate of
postoperative complications including cerebrospinal fluid leakage and septic meningitis were
significantly lower in patients with preoperative shunting. The results of this study are in favor of those
that approve the effect of preoperative shunting in decreasing postoperative complications. This is well
established when the tumor size is big or when the diagnosis of posterior fossa tumor is made in later
stages or when hydrocephalus is severe. It could be concluded that preoperative shunting can decrease
the rate of postoperative complications.
