Cysts in malignant gliomas

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Abstract
The clinical course, computerized tomography (CT) scans and postmortem reports for 265 patients treated for malignant brain tumors were reviewed. Patients (41) underwent reoperation for tumor recurrence and 1 had needle aspiration as a diagnostic procedure; of these patients, 7 (3% of 265 and 17% of 42) were diagnosed as harboring tumor cysts and 10 (25% of 41) as having necrotic tumor centers. The CT scans on the 17 patients harboring tumors with surgically confirmed cysts and necrotic centers were reviewed; criteria for distinguishing between cysts and central necrosis are suggested. The relative benefits of repeated aspiration and surgical therapy for these cystic lesions are discussed.