Neurosurgical management of massive cerebellar infarct outcome in 53 patients

BACKGROUND: Massive ischemic cerebellar infarct (MICI) is a main source of stroke, which can lead to severe morbidity and mortality. There is no consensus in medical literature for the management of MICI. The choice is made between placing an external ventricular drainage, suboccipital decompressive craniectomy, and removal of necrotic tissue or conservative treatment. There are not many prospective studies, done on this subject. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical features, and imaging studies of 53 patients with MICI who had been treated by surgery or conservative treatment between January 2000 and December 2008 at the Department of Neurosurgery of the general hospital of Fort de France in Martinique. A total of 25 patients underwent surgery and 28 were treated medically. RESULTS: The results show significantly better outcomes in the operated patients compared with the patients treated medically; Operated comatose patients demonstrated significant improvement in their Glasgow coma score (GCS) score with only two deaths. Whereas, nonoperated comatose patients lost points in their GCS with four deaths. CONCLUSION: The results of our study suggest that surgery may be an effective procedure and quite helpful for MICI in majority of cases.