Intracranial tumors in adult population of the Varazdin County (Croatia) 1996-2004: a population-based retrospective incidence study.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the incidence of intracranial tumors in the adult population of the Varazdin County, Croatia, for the 1996-2004 period.


METHODS



METHODS
Varazdin County General Hospital and four university hospitals in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.


METHODS
January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2004. Incident patients: county residents admitted for newly diagnosed intracranial tumors according to the WHO diagnostic criteria. Demographic data were extracted from the 2001 Croatian census. Incidence rates (IRs) per 100,000 person-years (p-y) and annual IRs (per 100,000 persons) were determined and compared as incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% CI.


RESULTS
For primary intracranial tumors (PITs), IR was 12.1/100,000 p-y (95% CI: 10.3-14.2), comparable in men and women. The highest incidence was recorded for glioblastoma (IR 4.8, 3.7-6.2) and meningioma (IR 3.1, 2.2-4.2). The incidence of PIT was somewhat greater than that of metastatic tumors (IRR 1.58, 95% CI: 1.22-2.05, P < 0.001). Metastatic tumors were more frequent in men than in women, especially metastatic lung tumors (IRR 6.08, 2.32-20.16, P < 0.001). IRs of all PIT taken together, neuroepithelial tumors cumulatively, nonepithelial tumors cumulatively, glioblastoma and meningioma were higher in the population aged > or = 40 vs. population aged < or = 39 (all IRRs with 95% CI greater than 1, P < 0.05 or < 0.001), comparable in men and women. Women were somewhat older than men at the time of diagnosis of PIT: median difference -6 years (95.1% CI: -10 to -1, P < 0.05). Annual IRs for all these tumor categories showed increasing trends over the study period.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, there was an increasing trend in the incidence of primary intracranial tumors in the Varazdin County. Data did not allow estimation for most of the specific tumor types.
Dobec-Meić
Biserka
B
Department of Radiology, Jordanovac University Hospital for Pulmonary Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia.
Pikija
Slaven
S
Cvetko
Danijel
D
Trkulja
Vladimir
V
Pazanin
Leo
L
Kudelić
Nenad
N
Rotim
Kresimir
K
Pavlicek
Ivan
I
Kostanjevec
And Ruza
AR
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008579:Meningioma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric