Tectal plate tumors

Tectal plate is a rare location for a tumor. Many papers have described different types of pathology arising in that location including tumors, vascular lesions, inflammatory and infectious processes. In this paper we describe our experience in treating seven patients with tectal plate lesions, with different ages and types of pathology: five patients presented with low grade gliomas, one with lung cancer metastasis and the last presenting with a tectal plate cavernoma. Open surgery was performed in three cases (due to tumor enlargement or need for the exact diagnosis). In the other cases, the treatment of non-communicating hydrocephalus was the only treatment employed. The prognosis is of course dependent on the underlining pathology. In our series, except in the metastatic tumor case and the cavernoma, the other types of lesion consisted of low grade gliomas. These lesions represent a different type of brain stem tumor sharing a common good prognosis, with a benign behavior. We believe that tectal tumors must be managed case by case. When a patient presents with a benign lesions in the tectal region, treating the main symptom--hydrocephalus--should be the first attempt in management of these lesions.