Endoscope-assisted resection of cavernous angioma at the foramen of Monro: a case report.
BACKGROUND
Intraventricular cavernous angiomas are rare pathological entities, and those located at the foramen of Monro are even rarer. We herein present a case of cavernous angioma at the foramen of Monro that was successfully treated by neuroendoscope-assisted surgical removal, and review the relevant literature.


METHODS
A 65-year-old woman had experienced headache and vomiting for 10 days before admission to another hospital. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a mass at the foramen of Monro, and obstructive hydrocephalus of both lateral ventricles. The patient was then referred to our hospital. Neurological examination on admission to our hospital showed memory disturbance (Mini-Mental State Examination 20/30) and wide-based gait. A cavernous angioma at the foramen of Monro was diagnosed based on the typical popcorn-like appearance of the lesion on MRI. The lesion was completely removed by neuroendoscope-assisted transcortical surgery with the Viewsite Brain Access System (Vycor Medical Inc., Boca Raton, FL), leading to a reduction in the size of the ventricles. The resected mass was histologically confirmed to be cavernous angioma. The patient's symptoms resolved immediately and there were no postoperative complications.


CONCLUSIONS
Minimally invasive neuroendoscope-assisted surgery was used to successfully treat a cavernous angioma at the foramen of Monro.
Department of Neurological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama, Okayama 700-8558 Japan.
Yuji
Y
Matsumoto
Department of Neurological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama, Okayama 700-8558 Japan.
Kazuhiko
0000-0002-6942-9919
K
Kurozumi
Department of Neurological Surgery, Hiroshima City Hiroshima Citizens Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan.
Yousuke
Y
Shimazu
Department of Neurological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama, Okayama 700-8558 Japan.
Tomotsugu
T
Ichikawa
Department of Neurological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama, Okayama 700-8558 Japan.
Isao
I
Date
Cavernous angioma; Foramen of Monro; Neuroendoscope-assisted surgery