PINEAL REGION LESIONS. MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

I Overview
1 Historical landmarks in pineal region surgery
2 Pineal region anatomy
3 Pathology of Pineal Region Lesions
4 Clinical presentation
5 Imagistic diagnosis
6 The Usefulness of Biomarkers for Diagnosis
7 Surgical Adjuvants for pineal region approach
II Surgical approaches for pineal region lesions
8 Supracerebellar infratentorial approach
9 Occipital transtentorial approach
10 Transcallosal approach
11 Endoscopic approaches for pineal region lesions
12 Management of Hydrocephalus
III Adjuvant therapies
13 Radiosurgery
14 Other radiotherapeutic techniques
15 Chemotherapy
IV Pineal region tumors
16 Tumors of Pineal Cell Origin
17 Tumors of germ cell origin
18 Tumors of glial origin
19 Meningiomas of the pineal region
20 Metastatic tumors
V Vascular lesions of the pineal region
21 Arterio-venous malformations
22 Cavernomas
23 Vein of Galen Aneurismal Malformation
VI Cysts and Cyst -Like Lesions of the pineal region
24 Epidermoids and Dermoids
25 Pineal Cyst
VII Miscellanea
26 Management algorithms
27 Conclusions.

Neurosurgical lesions of the pineal region are extremely rare, accounting for roughly 1% of the total number of neurosurgical expansive lesions in modern practice. This book offers an up-to-date review of the relevant literature, combined with the personal perspectives of some highly experienced figures in the field. The book is divided into two main parts, the first of which offers an overview of the pineal region from an anatomic, pathologic, imaging and therapeutic perspective. Special attention is given to surgical approaches to pineal region lesions. Microsurgical techniques are presented, together with detailed indications regarding specific locations of these lesions, specific complications, and controversial aspects concerning some of the approaches. A dedicated chapter addresses endoscopic techniques, their indications and limitations. Adjuvant therapies are also discussed, along with their particular indications and debated aspects.In turn, the chapters in the second part cover specific lesions such as pineal region tumors, vascular lesions, and cystic and cyst-like lesions. Regarding pineal region tumors, the most frequent pathologies are presented in the most comprehensive and practical manner possible, with special attention to the appropriate therapeutic management for each type. Further, there is a dedicated chapter on pineal region cysts. Given its depth of content, the book will allow neurosurgeons and specialists to greatly expand their understanding of pineal region lesions in daily clinical practice.

Features
• Provides a unified viewpoint on the various types of lesions encountered in the pineal region, while at the same time offering therapeutic perspectives for each type of lesion
• Clarifies controversies subjects in terms of diagnostic, therapy and adjuvant treatment helping readers select the most relevant aspects for their specific context
• Highlights the most practical diagnostic and therapeutic aspects contained in management algorithms based on the type of lesion, so as to offer practicing clinicians the most effective methods to solve certain cases

Author
Professor Florian graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca and subsequently became a specialist neurosurgeon. He was appointed an Assistant Professor of the Neurosurgery Department of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy (UMF) “Iuliu Hatieganu” Cluj-Napoca, where he has been a Professor since 2007. He has served as Head of the Neurosurgical Department, Clinical Emergency Cluj County Hospital since 2001, and was Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 2007 to 2012. As a senior neurosurgeon, he has performed more than 16,000 neurosurgical interventions, with no fewer than 800 surgeries per year in the last 5 years.
His personal areas of interest are neuro-oncology, cerebrovascular pathology, pediatric neurosurgery and neurotrauma. Further, he is intensively involved in continuous medical education for young neurosurgeons (over the past 10 years he has organised several national and international congresses, as well as various international courses and Master Classes).
He has authored 11 books, 28 book chapters, and 54 ISI-indexed publications, and is a member of various national and international professional societies. He was President of the Romanian Society of Neurosurgery from 2010 to 2012 and 2016 to 2018, and has been President of the EMN (Euroacademia Multidisciplinaria Neurotraumatologica) since 2015; a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy of Medical Science since 2016; Second Vice President at large of the WFNS since 2017; and Vice-President of the Southeast European Society of Neurosurgery (SeENS) since 2017.