Operative Experience in Cases of Pineal Tumor

Although an operative approach to the pineal region was proposed by me in 1921,1it was not until a decade later (1931) that the first pineal tumor was successfully extirpated.2A disastrous toll of seven fatal issues during this long period seemed almost to indicate the futility of further efforts. Yet the same approach was used successfuly in a number of cases of tumor of the third ventricle in which, though the lesion was in the same general region, less serious difficulties were offered. In addition to the aforementioned case, successful extirpation has since been performed in two others, thus indicating that the lesion is not entirely hopeless, although it remains one of the most dangerous of all intracranial growths. This seeming success, however, is still further tempered by the fact that in two of these cases the tumor has since recurred, in one after two and one-half