Objective: To investigate the prognostic features of the skull base chordomas treated with neurosurgical operations.
Methods: One hundred and six patients of skull base chordomas were enrolled by means of telephone, letter and out-patient recheck who presented between May 1993 and June 2005. They were scored by Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) during admission respectively, before period of discharge and follow-up. SPSS Life-table method was used to calculate the recurrent rates and survival rates.
Results: Seventy-nine patients were followed for 10-158 months. The average period was 63.9 months. Survival rates of 1, 3, 5 and 10 year were 87.2%, 79.4%, 67.6% and 59.5%, meanwhile recurrent rates of 1, 3, 5 and 10 years were 19.1%, 34.7%, 52.9% and 88.3% respectively. The mean KPS on admission, before discharge and follow-up were 71.0, 72.5 and 67.1 respectively, which demonstrated the significant differences between the before discharge item and the follow-up.
Conclusions: The prognosis of the skull base chordomas was poor. The recurrent rate was ascending year by year, meanwhile the survival rate was descending and 8 years later the tendency became gently. Neurosurgical treatments can improve majority long-term qualities, so they should be viewed as the first treatment choice.