Stereotactic radiofrequency thermocoagulation for giant hypothalamic hamartoma

OBJECTIVE The authors undertook this study to validate the feasibility and safety of stereotactic radiofrequency thermocoagulation (SRT) for the surgical treatment of giant hypothalamic hamartoma (HH). METHODS Of the 109 patients who underwent SRT for hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) at the authors' institution between 1997 and 2013, 16 patients (9 female, 7 male) had giant HHs (maximum diameter ≥ 30 mm). The clinical records of these 16 patients were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS The patients' age at first SRT ranged from 1 to 22 years (median 5 years). The maximum diameter of their HHs was 30-80 mm (mean 38.5 mm). Eleven HHs had bilateral attachments to the hypothalamus. All patients had gelastic seizures (GS), and 12 had types of seizures other than GS. Some of these patients also had mental retardation (n = 10, 62.5%), behavioral disorders (n = 8, 50.0%), and precocious puberty (n = 11, 68.8%). A total of 22 SRT procedures were performed; 5 patients underwent repeat SRT procedures. There was no mortality or permanent morbidity. After 17 of the 22 procedures, the patients experienced transient complications, including high fever (n = 7), hyperphagia (n = 3), hyponatremia (n = 6), disturbance of consciousness (n = 1), cyst enlargement (n = 1), and epidural hematoma (n = 1). Thirteen patients (81.3%) achieved freedom from GS after the final SRT procedure during a follow-up period ranging from 6 to 60 months (mean 23 months). Twelve patients had nongelastic seizures in addition to GS, and 7 (58.3%) of these 12 patients experienced freedom from their nongelastic seizures. CONCLUSIONS SRT provided minimal invasiveness and excellent seizure outcomes even in patients with giant HHs. Repeat SRT is safe for residual GS. SRT is a feasible single surgical strategy for HH regardless of the tumor's size or shape.