Epidemiological Profile of Adult Patients with Surgically Treated Intracranial Neoplasms

Aims: The American Cancer Society,s estimates for brain and spinal cord tumors in the United States for 2023, include both adults and children,25,400 malignant tumors will be diagnosed. The objective of this study was to analyze the epidemiological profile, risk factors for complications and death in the in-hospital postoperative period, in addition to describing the histological type of intracranial tumors most frequently operated on in a private Brazilian institution.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Place and Duration of Study: Biocor Instituto/Rede D’Or, from 2018 to 2021

Methodology: Data were collected from the medical records of patients who underwent surgery for intracranial tumors. The variables analyzed in this study were demographic characteristics (age, sex, and comorbidities), histological types of primary and secondary neoplasms, anatomical location of the lesions, neurological deficits at admission and post-surgical treatment (at discharge), whether the surgery was urgent or elective, whether it was a reoperation, and whether there were deaths or complications during hospitalization.

Results: Of 242 patients, 11 patients were excluded, and 231 patients were included in the analysis. The most common histological type was meningioma, accounting for 28% of cases. The histological type most associated with the risk of death was hemangioblastoma; however, it was also the histological type that presented the lowest incidence of cases. 39 patients (17%) had some complication in the in-hospital postoperative period, and 14 patients (6%) died.

Conclusions: Meningiomas constituted the majority of cases, accounting for 28% of the sample. The rate of complications and mortality was higher when compared to data from the international literature because this series analyzed brain metastases together with the excision of primary tumors. Concerning in-hospital deaths, hemangioblastoma emerged as the histological type most associated with the risk of death. It is noteworthy, however, that hemangioblastoma also exhibited the lowest incidence among the various histological types.