Slot, K. M., Peters, J. V. M., Vandertop, W. P., Verbaan, D., & Peerdeman, S. M. (2018). Meningioma surgery in younger and older adults: patient profile and surgical outcomes. European Geriatric Medicine, 9(1), 95–101.
PMID: 29430269 PMCID: PMC5797210 DOI: 10.1007/s41999-017-0015-1

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Meningiomas Surgery

Article Summary:
Currently, the incidence rate of meningiomas increases with age. The number of older patients harboring a meningioma is expected to increase due to increasing life expectancy. Therefore, we want to figure out whether the postoperative clinical outcome in the older patient, in terms of complications, morbidity and mortality, is comparable to that in younger patients. The patient in my second H & P was brought into ER due to blurry vision caused by hypertension urgency. During the checkup, an hyperdense/calvarium lesion nearby the anterior falx was noted on the CT head without contrast. Therefore, I found this article which aims to whether preoperative variables and postoperative clinical outcome differ between younger and older adults.
This article is a retrospective cohort study which data were obtained from the medical records of the patients with underwent meningioma surgery at the VU University Medical Center between 2005 and 2012. Patients were divided into older (age C 65 years) and younger adult (age 18–65 years) patients. Postoperative outcome was assessed using the data, such as 1) length of hospital stay, 2) destination after discharge, 3) complications within 30 days, and 4) mortality within 30 days. After the analysis, the authors find out that there was no significant difference postoperatively in mortality, complications and duration of hospital stay. Less older patients were discharged directly to home compared to younger adults. In surviving patients, less older subjects had a good recovery at 6–12 months’ follow-up compared to younger subjects. At 12–18 months, there was no significant difference in good recovery between both age groups. a major limitation of this study is the small sample size, which may influence the reliability of the results.
Overall, depend on this article I would like to educate my older patients with meningiomas, especially who is at age of 65 or older: Even outcome was worse for them in terms of discharge destination and good recovery at 6–12 months, if left untreated, a meningioma can put pressure on the brain and lead to complications such as memory loss, loss of coordination or balance and seizures.