The Satisfactory Surgical Outcome of Posterior Fossa Brain Tumors in Children at Civil Hospital, Karachi

INTRODUCTION: Posterior fossa brain tumor is the most devastating forms of human illness, primarily because of the limited space within the posterior fossa, the potential involvement of vital brain stem nuclei, and the mass effect causes obstructive hydrocephalus. Posterior fossa tumors are more common in children than adults. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: To find out the satisfactory surgical outcome of posterior fossa brain tumors in children at Civil hospital, Karachi. MATERIALS AND METHODS AND DURATION OF STUDY SETTING: This prospective observational, case series study was conducted from February 2015 to February 2105 in the Department of neurosurgery, Dow University of Health Sciences, Civil Hospital, Karachi, Karachi. Postoperative patients with the diagnosis of posterior fossa tumor were enrolled in the study. Detailed history, physical examination, anthropometrics, and biochemical measurements were recorded. Magnetic resonance imaging was done to determine the satisfactory surgical outcome. Patients were followed up at the third postoperative month to determine the satisfactory surgical outcome. RESULTS: Seventy-one patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria, the mean ± standard deviation age of the study population was 6.63 ± 3.181 years. 29 (40.8%) were <7 years of age and 42 (59.2%) were of age 7 years and above. 50 (70.4%) were males and 21 (29.6%) were females. 49 (69%) patients presented with vomiting. 34 (47.9%) presented with seizures. (40.8%) had papilledema. (25.4%) presented with hemiparesis. 8 (11.3%) had meningismus. On analysis of the frequency of outcome variables (80.3%) achieved the satisfactory surgical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: There has been no major study to determine satisfactory surgical outcome in postoperative patients with posterior fossa brain tumor in our population. The study was to provide local data in our population and compare it to the international data. This may help in proper patient management. Majority of the patients had satisfactory surgical outcome. The absence of papilledema, hemiparesis, and meningismus had more chances of satisfactory surgical outcome.