BRAIN METASTASES

Approximately 25% of patients with malign tumors have intracranial met astases, but because of selection only a part of them is treated opera tively. First sign of cerebral metastases is the neurological deficit according to the intracerebral localization, which is reliably visuali zed in computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The operati ve management depends on the localization of, and the number of metast ases, and on the patients' condition. In combination with radiotherapy a clear improvement of the mean survival time in comparison to the ab sence of treatment or radiotherapy alone can be achieved.