title: Surgery for intracranial meningiomas in the elderly: a clinical-radiological grading system as a predictor of outcome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A grading system, called the Clinical-Radiological Grading System (CRGS), has been developed to standardize surgical indications in elderly patients harboring intracranial meningiomas. Patients with a score lower than 10 had a bad prognosis regardless of surgical treatment, those with a score between 10 and 12 had a prognosis positively influenced by surgery, and those with a score higher than 12 had a good prognosis regardless of surgical treatment. The authors performed a prospective cross-sectional study to validate further the use of the CRGS as a clinical tool to orientate surgical decision making in elderly patients and to explore prognostic factors of survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  From 1990 to 2000 the authors consecutively recruited and surgically treated 90 patients 70 years of age or older with neuroimaging findings of intracranial meningiomas and a preoperative evaluation based on the CRGS. The surgical mortality rate, which covers deaths within 3 months after surgical intervention, was 7.8%, and the 1-year mortality rate was 15.6%. Female sex and a higher CRGS score were associated with a higher probability of survival. Among the different subset items of the CRGS score, no peritumoral edema for surgical survival and no concomitant diseases for 1-year survival provide the strongest predictive contribution, even if not at a statistically significant level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CRGS score is a useful and practical tool for the selection of elderly patients affected by intracranial meningiomas as surgical candidates. A CRGS score higher than 10 and female sex are good prognostic factors of survival. whereas age is not a contraindication to surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Milano, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Caraterre Scientifico, Italy. gfrwca@tin.it
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caroli
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Locatelli
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Prada
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Beretta
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martinelli-Boneschi
authors.forename: Rolando
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Campanella
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arienta
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D017567:Karnofsky Performance Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D008579:Meningioma / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome