April 18, 2024

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How to treat multiple brainstem gliomas in children?

How to treat multiple brainstem gliomas in children?


How to treat multiple brainstem gliomas in children?.  Brainstem glioma is a rare type of brain tumor in clinical practice, and it occurs frequently in children.

A boy, now 9 years old, went to the hospital due to nausea, vomiting, hoarseness and unsteady walking. The CT and MRI scans of the head showed that it was a brainstem lesion.

The doctor diagnosed him with brainstem glioma and told us that the brainstem is the most important part of the brain. In the past, palliative treatment was generally used for this tumor. Now it is possible to treat with microsurgery, but surgery is The risk is greater.

 

What is the effect of surgery on brainstem glioma?

.Brainstem glioma is a rare type of brain tumor in clinical practice, and it occurs frequently in children. There are roughly two types of brainstem gliomas, namely: focal and diffuse. Focal gliomas are mainly found in the midbrain, pontine and medulla oblongata. Most of them are low-grade astrocytomas. Diffuse gliomas grow scattered in the brainstem and have a high degree of malignancy. Whether it is low-grade or high-grade malignancy, the prognosis of patients is poor. Histopathological diagnosis is meaningful for the prognosis of tumors.

Clinical manifestations:

Different parts and types of brainstem glioma have different clinical manifestations. The average age of patients with midbrain paraaqueduct glioma is about 10 years old, showing progressive headache and hydrocephalus; medullary tumors may be more limited. It can also grow downward and extend to the cervical spinal cord, clinically manifested as loss of appetite, repeated upper respiratory tract infections, dysphagia, hoarseness, hemiplegia or quadriplegia, tendon hyperreflexia, ataxia, etc.; more localized tumors of the pontine Rare, may have unilateral paralysis, hearing loss, etc.

Diagnosis: According to clinical manifestations and imaging examinations, the diagnosis of brainstem glioma can be made. In imaging examinations, focal midbrain tumors, especially gliomas next to the aqueduct, are shown as iso-signal or slightly lower signal on the MRI T1-weighted image; the aqueduct can be clearly shown on the T2-weighted image The adjacent focal hyperintensity has a space-occupying effect, and the enhancement scan shows that the tumor has enhancement; the medullary focal tumor appears as low signal on the MRI T1-weighted image, and the T2-weighted image is high signal, and often has an enhancement effect. When the tumor grows to the outside, part of it may have cystic change.

Treatment:

The main treatments for brainstem glioma are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Some scholars believe that all brainstem gliomas should be surgically removed, and specimens should be collected for biopsy during the operation, and radiotherapy and chemotherapy should be performed as soon as possible after the operation. If your child’s tumor is focal and has a low grade after pathological examination, the prognosis will be better if the tumor is completely removed and also received radiotherapy and chemotherapy: on the contrary, if the tumor grows diffusely and the pathology The level of examination is high, and the operation fails to obtain a total resection, the prognosis is poor.

 


The human nervous system is composed of the brain and spinal cord (called the central nervous system), cranial and spinal nerves (called the peripheral nervous system), and sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves (called the autonomic nervous system).

It is the highest organ of the human body, dominating all human life activities. In our daily diagnosis and treatment work, we deal with various diseases for patients with neurological diseases every day and answer questions related to their diseases. On this basis, we organize the common questions raised by disease categories. It aims to provide guidance and help for the vast number of patients with the nervous system to seek medical advice!

 

(source:internet, reference only)


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