[Therapeutic irradiation of brain tumor and cerebrovasculopathy]

The first case was a 5-year-old girl treated with a total of 6000 rads after total removal of a left temporoparietal tumor extending into the basal ganglia. About 4 years after completion of the radiation therapy, she showed left hemiplegia and deterioration in her level of consciousness. A plain CT scan showed calcification in the region of the bilateral basal ganglia and low density area in the right fronto-parietal region. An enhanced CT revealed gyral enhancements in the pre- and postcentral gyrus of the right hemisphere. Left carotid angiograms showed a narrowing of the horizontal portion and an occlusion of the distal portion of the left anterior cerebral artery. The distal portion of the right anterior cerebral artery was filled through the anterior communicating artery. Right carotid angiograms revealed an occlusion of the terminal portion of the internal carotid artery, retrograde filling of the anterior and middle cerebral arteries by leptomeningeal anastomosis via the posterior cerebral artery, and partial filling of the anterior cerebral artery via the anterior falx artery. Preoperative arteriography did not show occlusion and stenosis of the cerebral arteries. Superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery anastomosis in the right hemisphere was performed. Regional cerebral blood flow measured during operation increased from 34 to 72 ml/100 gr/min due to the surgery. About two weeks after surgery, left hemiplegia disappeared completely. The second case was a 67-year-old man who had received radiotherapy, following surgery of a chromophobe pituitary adenoma. About one year after irradiation he began to complain of gait disturbance and dysarthria.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)