Table 3. Surgery side-effects compared to proton therapy side effects.
| Characteristics | Surgery | Proton therapy | pa | All patients |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients | 47 | 28b | - | 47 |
| Presence of any complications | 12 (26) | 19 (68) | <.001 | 25 (53) |
| Death | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | .44 | 1 (2) |
| CTCAE ≥ 3 | 5 (11) | 7 (25) | .10 | 10 (21) |
| CSF leak | 6 (13) | - | - | 6 (13) |
| Meningitis | 4 (9) | - | - | 4 (9) |
| Cranial nerve palsy | 9 (19) | 3 (11) | .34 | 11 (23) |
| Sensorineural HL | 3 (6) | 11 (39) | <.001 | 14 (30) |
| Conductive HL | 2 (4) | 3 (11) | .28 | 5 (11) |
| Severe HLc | 2 (4) | 6 (21) | .02 | 8 (17) |
| Dizziness | 0 (0) | 4 (14) | .008 | 4 (9) |
| PE | 1 (2) | - | - | 1 (2) |
| Vision loss | - | 3 (11) | - | 3 (6) |
| Hypopituarism | - | 5 (18) | - | 5 (11) |
| Temporal lobe radionecrosis | - | 5 (18) | - | 5 (11) |
Results are shown either by Number (proportion), or Mean (range). There were no vessel injuries during surgery. CTCAE Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Effects v4, CSF Cerebro-Spinal Fluid, HL Hearing loss, PE Pulmonary Embolism.
a Statistical significance comparing surgery and proton therapy induced complications, using chi-squared test for proportions and Mann-Whitney test for mean.
b Total number of patients having received Proton therapy (23 in the primary treatment and 5 in the secondary)
c Hearing loss requiring treatment, or cophosis (≥grade 3 CTCAE v4), including conductive and sensorineural causes.