1/342. Surgical management of pediatric tumor-associated epilepsy.Brain tumors are a common cause of seizures in children. Early surgical treatment can improve seizure outcome, but controversy exists regarding the most appropriate type of surgical intervention. Some studies suggest tumor resection alone is sufficient, while others recommend mapping and resection of the surrounding epileptogenic foci to optimize seizure outcome. To address this issue, we reviewed the charts of 34 pediatric patients aged 18 months to 20 years with medically intractable epilepsy and primary brain tumors. The average age at operation was 12.6 years, and patients had seizures for an average of 6.4 years. The majority of tumors were located in the temporal lobe. Seventeen patients, because of tumor location near an eloquent area, underwent extraoperative mapping using subdural electrode grids prior to definitive tumor resection. Fourteen of these patients had a gross total tumor resection, yet only two had a distinct zone of ictal onset identified and resected. The remaining 17 patients had tumors either in the nondominant hemisphere or far removed from speech-sensitive areas, and therefore did not undergo extraoperative subdural electroencephalograph mapping. Fourteen of these patients also had a gross total tumor resection, while none had intraoperative electrocorticography to guide the resection of additional nontumoral tissue. overall, of the 28 patients treated with a gross total tumor resection, 24 (86%) are seizure free, while the other four are significantly improved. Of the six patients who had a subtotal tumor removal, five have persistent seizures. The mean follow-up was 3.6 years. We conclude that in children and adolescents, completeness of tumor resection is the most important factor in determining seizure outcome. The routine mapping and resection of epileptogenic foci might not be necessary in the majority of patients. As a corollary, the use of subdural electrode grids in pediatric patients with tumor-associated epilepsy should be limited to cases requiring extraoperative cortical stimulation for localization of nearby eloquent cortex.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/342. anesthesia for cesarean section in two patients with brain tumours.PURPOSE: To describe two patients with brain tumours where general anesthesia was used for cesarean sections under emergency and urgent conditions. CLINICAL FEATURES (CASE #1): The first patient presented at 38 wk gestation with an acute intracranial tumour herniation, requiring emergency craniotomy and simultaneous cesarean section. General anesthesia was induced with thiopental and vecuronium, maintained with enflurane 1% in O2 100%. Maternal P(ET)CO2 was maintained at 25 mmHg. After delivering a healthy infant, she was given syntocinon, mannitol and dexamethasone i.v. anesthesia was maintained with fentanyl, nitrous oxide 50% in O2 and isoflurane 1% during frontal-lobe tumour resection. CLINICAL FEATURES (CASE #2): The second patient presented at 37 wk gestation for urgent cesarean section because of placental insufficiency. She had had a brain tumour resection four years earlier. An increase in intracranial pressure necessitated craniotomy for decompression at 20 wk gestation. She was further treated with dexamethasone, carbamazepine and radiation for control of cerebral oedema at 34 wk. cesarean section was performed under general anesthesia; rapid-sequence-induction with thiopental and succinylcholine, followed by isoflurane 1% in O2 100%. Syntocinon, fentanyl and atracurium i.v. were administered after delivery of a healthy infant. Although neurosurgeons stood by, their intervention was unnecessary. CONCLUSION: General anesthesia remains safe and dependable for operative delivery in parturients with intracranial tumour. Tracheal intubation allows maternal hyperventilation thereby controlling raised intracranial pressure. Hemodynamic stability is readily achieved to maintain cerebral perfusion. However, a multidisciplinary-team approach is critical for successful patient management.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/342. Clinical and radiographic response in three children with recurrent malignant cerebral tumors with high-dose tamoxifen.The purpose of this study was to deliver tamoxifen as antiangiogenic therapy to children with recurrent progressive malignant brain tumors. tamoxifen was administered orally in very high dosage to one child as monotherapy and to two children in combination with oral etoposide and dexamethasone. One boy was diagnosed with high-grade astrocytoma in the brain stem, one girl with anaplastic ependymoma of the fourth ventricule, and one girl with high-grade astrocytoma in the midbrain. Conventional treatment with multiple surgeries, first- and second-line chemotherapy, and external beam therapy had failed. Tumor reduction was seen in radiographic images together with clinical improvement in 2 children, and clinical and radiographic halting of tumor progression was demonstrated in the patient with anaplastic ependymoma. None of the patients developed complications from the treatment. Follow up of the patients ranged from 15 to 30 months with a mean of 17 months. These encouraging preliminary results suggest a potential for this type of therapy. More studies are needed to start clinical trials and prove that angiostatic activity may contribute to the therapeutic effect of antiestrogens in estrogen receptor-negative tumors.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 3keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/342. A leptomeningeal metastasis revealed by sciatica.Meningeal metastatic disease usually occurs as a complication of a brain tumor and is exceptionally isolated in patients with solid tumors. We report the case of a 74-year-old woman admitted for mechanical S1 sciatica refractory to drug therapy. She had been treated for breast cancer three years earlier. Physical findings were pain upon hyperextension of the lumbar spine and absence of the ankle jerks. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid sampled during an intrathecal glucocorticoid injection showed 1 g/L of protein and 11 normal cells per mm3. Grade 3 L5-S1 spondylolisthesis was seen on plain radiographs, computed tomography scans, and magnetic resonance imaging scans. At that point, the patient developed sphincter dysfunction and motor loss in the left lower limb in the distribution of several nerve roots. Findings were normal from a myelogram and a magnetic resonance imaging study of the brain. A repeat cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed 1.1 g/L of protein and 5 cells/mm3. Because of the discrepancy between the clinical and imaging study findings, the patient was transferred to a neurology department. A third cerebrospinal fluid study showed numerous adenocarcinoma cells, and a repeat magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a mass in the dural sac opposite L2. A program of monthly intrathecal methotrexate injections was started. A fatal meningeal relapse occurred eight months later. CONCLUSION: This case shows that a leptomeningeal metastasis can cause isolated nerve root pain, and demonstrates the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid cytology in patients with atypical symptoms, particularly when there is a history of malignant disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/342. Graft-versus-lymphoma effect after allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for primary central nervous system lymphoma.Allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (allo PBSCT) is a recognized treatment modality for hematological malignancies resistant to conventional chemoradiotherapy. The post-transplant immune-mediated graft-versus-leukemia effect has major curative potential. In this case presentation, the allogeneic approach to resistant recurrent primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma using peripheral blood stem cells from an HLA identical sibling after immuno-suppressive non-myeloablative conditioning, was examined clinically. The patient in question had relapsing refractory primary CNS lymphoma and is the first to be treated with this modality. She developed early skin and liver-localized grade II graft-versus-host disease after allo PBSCT, which then responded to short-term treatment. Chimeric studies at the time showed 100% donor cells and repeated magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed gradual shrinkage of the tumor. Three months after transplant the cerebral mass was no longer evident and currently, 30 months after transplantation, the patient continues to be disease free. The absence of any signs of malignancy suggests the development of a durable graft-versus-lymphoma effect in this brain tumor and indicates that this effect may be achieved even after non-myeloablative conditioning.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 14.167171403878keywords = central nervous system, brain, nervous system (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/342. Malignant glial tumor arising from the site of a previous hamartoma/ganglioglioma: coincidence or malignant transformation?Gangliogliomas are generally considered benign tumors. Although more commonly found in the brain, spinal cord ganglioglioma is a well established, albeit infrequent, entity. We describe a 2-decade clinical course of a patient initially diagnosed with a thoracolumbar 'glial-neuronal hamartoma' at age 4. Seventeen years after his first operation, local recurrence was noted. Despite subsequent multiple gross total resections and adjuvant therapy, histologic features became increasingly ominous and ultimately proved fatal. This is an unusual report and histologic presentation of a resected spinal cord ganglioglioma recurring as an anaplastic ependymoma/astrocytoma and subsequently a glioblastoma. It is quite likely that the originally resected ganglioglioma was actually part of a primitive neuroectodermal tumor which had undergone extensive maturation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/342. Clinical delivery of intensity modulated conformal radiotherapy for relapsed or second-primary head and neck cancer using a multileaf collimator with dynamic control.BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Concave dose distributions generated by intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) were applied to re-irradiate three patients with pharyngeal cancer. patients, MATERIALS AND methods: Conventional radiotherapy for oropharyngeal (patients 1 and 3) or nasopharyngeal (patient 2) cancers was followed by relapsing or new tumors in the nasopharynx (patients 1 and 2) and hypopharynx (patient 3). Six non-opposed coplanar intensity modulated beams were generated by combining non-modulated beamparts with intensities (weights) obtained by minimizing a biophysical objective function. Beamparts were delivered by a dynamic MLC (Elekta Oncology Systems, Crawley, UK) forced in step and shoot mode. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Median PTV-doses (and ranges) for the three patients were 73 (65-78), 67 (59-72) and 63 (48-68) Gy. Maximum point doses to brain stem and spinal cord were, respectively, 67 Gy (60% of volume below 30 Gy) and 32 Gy (97% below 10 Gy) for patient 1; 60 Gy (69% below 30 Gy) and 34 Gy (92% below 10 Gy) for patient 2 and 21 Gy (96% below 10 Gy) at spinal cord for patient 3. Maximum point doses to the mandible were 69 Gy for patient 1 and 64 Gy for patient 2 with, respectively, 66 and 92% of the volume below 20 Gy. A treatment session, using the dynamic MLC, was finished within a 15-min time slot.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/342. Recurrent intracranial Masson's vegetant intravascular hemangioendothelioma. Case report and review of the literature.In the central nervous system, recurrence of intracranial Masson's vegetant intravascular hemangioendothelioma (MVIH) is rare. To the authors' knowledge, only three recurrent intracranial cases have been reported. The authors report the case of a 75-year-old woman with a recurrent left-sided cerebellopontine angle and middle cranial fossa MVIH. When the patient was 62 years of age, she underwent preoperative embolization and subtotal resection of the intracranial lesion followed by postoperative radiotherapy. She was well and free from disease until 9 years postoperatively when she became symptomatic. At 71 years of age, the patient again underwent preoperative embolization and near-gross-total resection of the lesion. Follow-up imaging performed 15 months later revealed tumor recurrence, and she underwent stereotactic gamma knife radiosurgery. At a 2.75-year follow-up review, the patient's imaging studies revealed stable residual tumor. This case report is unique in that it documents the clinical and pathological features, surgical and postoperative treatment, and long-term follow-up review of a patient with recurrent intracranial MVIH and suggests that this unusual vascular lesion is a slow-growing benign tumor rather than a reactive process. Because the pathological composition of the lesion may resemble an angiosarcoma, understanding this benign vascular neoplasm is crucial so that an erroneous diagnosis of malignancy is not made and unnecessary adjuvant therapy is not given.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.4334342807756keywords = central nervous system, nervous system (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/342. Metastatic craniopharyngioma.We report a unique case of metastatic craniopharyngioma. Initially, the patient had a right frontal craniotomy for resection of a suprasellar mass, which was determined to be an adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma. Seven years later, an MR study of the brain showed two peripheral enhancing lesions adjacent to the dura and contralateral to the craniotomy site. Pathologic examination again showed adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma. Although recurrence, both local and along surgical tracts due to implantation of craniopharyngioma tissue, has been reported, this case raises the possibility of meningeal seeding to remote sites.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/342. glioblastoma multiforme in a mature ovarian teratoma with recurring brain tumours.AIMS: We report a case study to highlight the occurrence of glioblastoma multiforme in an ovarian teratoma. methods AND RESULTS: A 10-year-old girl presented with a left frontal lobe primitive neuroectodermal tumour which was successfully treated. After 6 uneventful years, she developed glioblastoma multiforme located posterior to the site of the initial tumour. Six years later, she presented with a mature cystic teratoma containing glioblastoma multiforme. CONCLUSIONS: glioblastoma in an ovarian teratoma is an exceptional event, which might have an initial clinical presentation as a metastatic brain tumour. Alternatively, recurring glial tumours may occur in a genetically predisposed person; the role of radiation and chemotherapy in this context remains to be elucidated.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 5keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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