Ventriculostomy in a tumor involving the third ventricular floor.

Recently, endoscopic management has gotten preference over open surgical treatment in selected cases of intraventricular tumors. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) appears unfeasible when tumors extend to the third ventricular floor region due to the risk of perforators and injury to the basilar artery. We report the case of a 12-year-old male with symptoms of acute, chronic, raised intracranial pressure. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a posterior third ventricular tumor involving the aqueductal and floor regions. The ETV was done after clearing the floor by partial tumor resection, keeping the dorsum sellae as the major anatomical landmark. The patient improved satisfactorily and was given adjuvant radiotherapy, and the need for an external shunt was completely eliminated. We conclude that ETV appears worth trying, even in third ventricular tumors involving the floor region if they can be cleared from the tumor keeping the dorsum sellae as the major anatomical landmark.