Role of computed tomography in the management of adult brain tumours

Neuroradiologic imaging has revolutionised the management of brain tumours through precise presurgery diagnosis and accurate definition of the extent of disease. This report attempts to evaluate our five years of clinical experience with intracranial CT scanning in the management of adult brain tumours.

The study included 160 adults with demonstrable brain tumours on CT imaging between 1997 and 2001. Surgical confirmation and histologic typings were recorded. All CT scans were carried out on Siemens Somatom AR.T scanner. A complete CT examination includes pre- and post-contrast examination done at 5 to 10 mm slice thickness and 10 mm interval from the base of skull to the vertex. All scans were viewed and documented in soft tissue and bone windows and multiplanar reconstruction appropriate for optimum visualisation of the areas of interest. All CT scans of the study population were analysed by age, sex, symptomatology, type and location of tumour.

There were 92 males and 68 females with a mean age of 48 +/- 0.68 years. Headache accounted for 41.2% of the presenting symptoms while cerebral hemispheric tumours are more frequently (60.6% ) encountered. Gliomas are the commonest group (68.8% ).

CT examination has improved the management of patients with brain tumours in our teaching hospital and will continue to remain the mainstream neuroradiologic imaging technique for a very long time.