Does subjective improvement in adults with intracranial arachnoid cysts justify surgical treatment

OBJECTIVESubjective improvement of patients who have undergone surgery for intracranial arachnoid cystshas justified surgical treatment. The current study aimed to evaluate the outcome of surgical treatment for arachnoid cystsusing standardized interviews and assessments of neuropsychologicalfunction and balance. The relationship between arachnoid cystlocation, postoperative improvement, and arachnoid cystvolume was also examined.METHODSThe authors performed a prospective, population-based study. One hundred nine patients underwent neurological, neuropsychological, and physiotherapeutic examinations. The arachnoid cystswere considered symptomatic in 75 patients, 53 of whom agreed to undergo surgery. In 32 patients, results of the differential diagnosis revealed that the symptoms were due to a different underlying condition and were unrelated to an arachnoid cyst. Neuropsychological testingincluded target reaction time, Grooved Pegboard, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning, Rey Osterrieth complex figure, a...