Endoscopic Management of Fourth Ventricle Neurocysticercosis: Description of the New Technique in a Case Series of 5 Cases and Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND

Around 7%-33% of cases of neurocysticercosis (NCC) have intraventricular involvement, and the fourth ventricle is the most frequent site. Medical management and various surgical approaches have been described for treating this disease. The objective of this study was to describe technical modification for endoscopic fourth ventricular NCC removal in a series of 5 cases.

METHODS

In this study (January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2017), all cases of fourth ventricular NCC which were treated with a special technique (endoscopic transcortical transforaminal transaqueductal approach) using a rigid endoscope system and 6-French infant feeding tube (IFT) were included in the study. The IFT was passed through the main channel, the cyst was engaged at the tip by applying gentle suction with a 20 cm syringe, and the cyst was removed along with the whole endoscopic assembly. Patient's clinical, radiologic, and follow-up data were retrieved from the department database records.

RESULTS

Five patients (3 men, 2 women; mean age, 20 years; range, 11-27 years) were enrolled. All patients had features of raised intracranial pressure. Two patients also had drop attacks, and one presented with altered sensorium and one had upgaze palsy. Duration of symptoms ranged from 3 months to 3 years. All patients had isolated fourth ventricular NCC with obstructive hydrocephalus. Complete removal of the neurocysticercal cyst could be performed in all patients without any injury to the periaqueductal region or fornix. There was no intraoperative rupture of the neurocysticercal cyst. On follow-up (range, 12-28 months; mean, 19.4 months), all patients had relief of symptoms and imaging showed no cyst and hydrocephalus.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that our endoscopic approach is safe, simple, cost-effective, and allows minimally invasive removal of the fourth ventricle cyst and treatment of hydrocephalus without any morbidity.