Turkish Neurosurgery 2009 , Vol 19 , Num 2
Late Brain Stem Radionecrosis Seventeen Years After Fractionated Radiotherapy
Fatih BAYRAKLI1, Alp DİNÇER2, Aydın SAV3, Erkan VARDARELİ4, Selçuk PEKER5
1Acibadem Maslak Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey
2Acibadem Kozyatagi Hospital, Department of Radiology, Istanbul, Turkey
3Acibadem Kozyatagi Hospital, Department of Pathology, Istanbul, Turkey
4Acibadem Kozyatagi Hospital, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
5Acibadem University, School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey
The appearance of a new lesion several years after radiation treatment for a primary brain tumor may represent different kind of pathologies. We present a 24-year-old patient who suffered from right-sided hemiparesis and ataxic gait with a history of an operation due to left frontoparieal grade II fibrillary astrocytoma and fractioned radiotherapy. His cranial MRI study showed heterogeneous signal intensity of brain stem radionecrosis in the pons spreading through the mesencephalon and left brachium pontis. The leading diagnosis was high-grade glial tumor. The patient underwent stereotaxic biopsy and histopathological examination revealed radionecrosis. Radiation necrosis has a radiological appearance similar to various important pathologies. Tissue sampling for histopathological examination is mandatory for definite diagnosis and correct treatment of the disease. Keywords : Radiation necrosis, Glial tumor, Radiological differential diagnosis
Corresponding author : Fatih Bayraklı, fbayrakli@hotmail.com