Comparative analysis of anterior third ventricle approaches

Background. Third ventricle tumors are uncommon and account for only 0.6 - 0.9% of all the brain tumors7. In 1921, Dandy was the first neurosurgeon who successfully removed a colloid cyst from the third ventricle through a posterior transcallosal approach. Despite their unfavourable locations, these tumours can be removed successfully by proper knowledge of anatomical landmarks and by choosing the appropriate approach. Methods. We performed a retrospective analysis of all patients (17 patients) who underwent surgery for anterior third ventricular masses between March 2018 to March 2020 in the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Science Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Results: The most common symptom in our cases was headache, which was present in all (100%) patients, nausea/vomiting in 7 (41%), history of recurrent episodes of drop attacks in 4 (23%), h/o seizure in 2 (11.7%), visual disturbance in 1 (5.4%), memory disturbance in 1 (5.4%) and urinary incontinence in 1 (5.4%) patient. 6 patients were operated with transcallosal-transforaminal approach, 1 patient was operated with transcallosal interforniceal approach, 3 patients were operated with transcortical-transforaminal approach, 1 patient was operated with subfrontal translamina terminalis approach, 1 patient was operated with transcallosal-transchoroidal approach, 5 patients were operated with endoscopically. Gross total excision was achieved in 15 (88%) patients while in 2 (11.7%) patients subtotal resection was done due to their adherence to choroid plexus and optic chiasm. The most common post-operative complication was endocrine dysfunction in the form of diabetes insipidus. Conclusions. Anterior Third ventricular tumours are mostly benign and best treatment modality is surgical resection. When we analyzed the results of various approaches, we found that despite their unfavourable location, the results were satisfactory for different tumours of different location in the anterior third ventricle, when treated with the carefully planned microsurgical or endoscopic approach with proper knowledge of anatomical landmarks.