Management of Tumors of the Cerebellopontine Angle in Developing Countries: Experience of Fann Teaching Hospital in Dakar

Abstract

Introduction Tumors of the cerebellopontine angle (CPA) represent about 10% of intracranial tumors in adults and about 1% in the pediatric series. The most common histological types are vestibular schwannoma, meningioma and squamous cyst. These three tumors represent more than 90% of the tumors of the cerebellopontine angle. These are essentially benign lesions [1-4]. Surgical removal is the mainstay of treatment, moving from the era of preservation of the vital prognosis to the era of preservation of the functional prognosis. To date, the literature on CPA tumor surgery is uncommon in our developing countries where access to care is late and the technical platform is not sufficient [5,6]. Thus, our objective is to report our experience on this pathology; we will establish the epidemiological profile and analyze the diagnostic, therapeutic and evolving aspects of this pathology in our context in Senegal. Materials and Methods We conducted a descriptive study, with retrospective data from January 2007 to December 2018, a 12-year period. The study was conducted at the neurosurgical department of the FANN National University Hospital. We have included in the study all patients who have had clinical examination and medical imaging (CT scan or brain MRI) for an accurate topographic diagnosis of cerebellopontine angle tumor. We have excluded incomplete records, tumor lesions of the anterior or middle floor of the skull base extended to the cerebellopontine angle and airway lesions extended to the cerebellopontine angle. We also excluded brainstem and cerebellar lesions spread at the cerebellopontine angle. The parameters evaluated were epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and evolving. Data analysis was performed on EXCEL 2016 and the statistical analysis software "SPSS statistics 20". Abstract Introduction: Cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors account for about 5 to 10% of intracranial tumors in the literature. The majority of lesions in this region are benign, so surgery is the main treatment. The literature on the management of these lesions is poor in our context. In this way, we will draw up the epidemiological profile and analyze the diagnostic, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of this pathology in Dakar.