Objective: IgG4-related hypertrophic pachymeningitis is a rare fibroinflammatory disorder that may cause localized or diffused thickening of the dura mater. Misinterpretations of the clinical and imaging findings are common. Clinical manifestations depend on the location of the inflammatory lesion and on compression of neural structures leading to functional deficits. A dural biopsy is commonly needed for a definitive diagnosis. Immunomodulatory therapy is considered the therapy of choice. Methods: Four patients with IgG4-related hypertrophic pachymeningitis were identified over a 5-year period. Patient-related characteristics including age, preoperative workup, signs and symptoms of patients, and diagnostic procedures were evaluated. Furthermore, the surgical treatment and 5-year follow-up outcomes were analyzed. Results: There were two adults and two adolescents (mean age 32 years; range 15 to 67 years). Two patients were male, and two were female. No history of disease was known in any of the patients. Clinical symptoms were epilepsy (n = 2), ataxia and nausea (n = 1), and facial nerve palsy (n = 1). MR imaging studies showed contrast enhancing lesions in the temporal region in two patients, and in the cerebellar region in the other two patients. Subtotal resection was performed in two instances and a biopsy via a suboccipital retrosigmoid approach was obtained in the other two patients. Histochemical and immunohistochemical investigations revealed an IgG 4 disease in all of these patients. Immunomodulatorry therapy led to clinical stability during follow-up of 5 years in all four cases. Conclusion: The diagnosis of IgG4-related hypertrophic pachymeningitis is challenging, but is of great relevance as treatment differs significantly from other forms of pachymeningitis and a specific therapeutic approach may avoid long-term neurological complications. Our series contributes to a better clinical characterization of this rare disease.

Intracranial metastases from thyroid cancer are rare. Although the prognosis of thyroid cancer patients is generally favorable, the prognosis of patients with intracranial metastases from thyroid cancer has been considered unfavorable owing to lower survival rates among such patients compared to those without intracranial involvement. Many questions about their management remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to analyze the characteristics, treatment modalities, and outcomes of patients with brain metastases from thyroid cancer. Among 4320 patients with thyroid cancer recorded in our institutional database over a 30-year period, the data of 20 patients with brain metastasis were retrospectively collected and analyzed. The clinical characteristics, histological type of primary cancer and metastatic brain tumor, additional previous distant metastasis, treatment modalities, locations and characteristics on radiologic findings, time interval between the first diagnosis of primary thyroid cancer and brain metastasis, and survival were analyzed. Among our patient cohort, the mean age at initial diagnosis was 59.3 ± 14.1 years, and at the manifestation of diagnosis of cerebral metastasis, the mean age was found to be 64.8 ± 14.9 years. The histological types of primary thyroid cancer were identified as papillary in ten patients, follicular in seven, and poorly differentiated carcinoma in three. The average interval between the diagnosis of thyroid cancer and brain metastasis was 63.4 ± 58.4 months (range: 0–180 months). Ten patients were identified as having a single intracranial lesion, and ten patients were found to have multiple lesions. Surgical resection was primarily performed in fifteen patients, and whole-brain radiotherapy, radiotherapy, or tyrosine kinase inhibitors were applied in the remaining five patients. The overall median survival time was 15 months after the diagnosis of BMs from TC (range: 1–252 months). Patients with thyroid cancer can develop brain metastasis even many years after the diagnosis of the primary tumor. The results of our study demonstrate increased overall survival in patients younger than 60 years of age at the time of diagnosis of brain metastasis. There was no difference in survival between patients with brain metastasis from papillary carcinoma and those with follicular thyroid carcinoma.

Objective: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt implantation has become standard treatment for cerebrospinal fluid diversion, besides endoscopic third ventriculostomy for certain indications. Postoperative X-ray radiography series of skull, chest and abdomen combined with cranial CT are obtained routinely in many institutions to document the shunt position and valve settings in adult patients. Measures to reduce postoperative radiation exposure are needed, however, there is only limited experience with such efforts. Here, we aim to compare routine postoperative cranial CT plus conventional radiography series (retrospective arm) with cranial CT and body scout views only (prospective arm) concerning both diagnostic quality and radiation exposure. Patients and methods: After introduction of an enhanced CT imaging protocol, routine skull and abdomen radiography was no longer obtained after VP shunt surgery. The image studies of 25 patients with routine postoperative cranial CT and conventional radiography (retrospective arm of study) were then compared to 25 patients with postoperative cranial CT and CT body scout views (prospective arm of study). Patient demographics such as age, sex and primary diagnosis were collected. The image quality of conventional radiographic images and computed tomography scout views images were independently analyzed by one neurosurgeon and one neuroradiologist. Results: There were no differences in quality assessments according to three different factors determined by two independent investigators for both groups. There was a statistically significant difference, however, between the conventional radiography series group and the CT body scout view imaging group with regard to radiation exposure. The effective dose estimation calculation yielded a difference of 0.05 mSv (two-tailed t-test, p = 0.044) in favor of CT body scout view imaging. Furthermore, the new enhanced protocol resulted in a reduction of cost and the use of human resources. Conclusion: CT body scout view imaging provides sufficient imaging quality to determine shunt positioning and valve settings. With regard to radiation exposure and costs, we suggest that conventional postoperative shunt series may be abandoned.

Intracranial metastases from thyroid cancer are rare. Although the prognosis of thyroid cancer patients is generally favorable, the prognosis of patients with intracranial metastases from thyroid cancer has been considered unfavorable having a lower survival rate than those without intracranial involvement. Many questions about their management remain unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze the characteristics, treatments, and outcomes of patients with brain metastases from thyroid cancer. Among 4320 patients with thyroid cancer recorded in our institutional database over a 30-year period, 20 patients with brain metastasis were retrospectively collected and analyzed. The clinical characteristics, histological type of primary cancer and metastatic brain tumor, additional previous distant metastasis, treatment modalities, locations and characteristics on radiologic findings, time interval between the first diagnosis of the primary thyroid cancer and brain metastasis, and survival were analyzed. The mean age at initial diagnosis was 59.3 ± 14.1 years, and at the manifestation of diagnosis of cerebral metastasis 64.8 ± 14.9 years. The histological types of the primary thyroid cancers were papillary in ten patients, follicular in seven, and poorly differentiated carcinoma in three. The average interval between the diagnosis of thyroid cancer and brain metastasis was 63.4 ± 58.4 months (range, 0-180 months). Ten patients had a single intracranial lesion and 10 patients had multiple lesions. Surgical resection was primarily performed in 15 patients and whole-brain radiotherapy, radiotherapy or tyrosine kinase inhibitors were applied in the other 5 patients. Overall median survival time was 15 months after diagnosis of BM from TC (range: 1-252 months). Patients with thyroid cancer can develop brain metastasis even many years after diagnosis of the primary tumor. Our study demonstrates an increased overall survival of patients younger than 60 years of age at the time of diagnosis of brain metastasis. There was no difference in survival between patients with brain metastasis from papillary or follicular thyroid carcinoma.