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[Cerebral and cerebellar ependymomas in children]
Insights
Early diagnosis and specialist referral are crucial for better outcomes in pediatric ependymoma cases. Prompt treatment significantly impacts survival rates for these brain tumors.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Neuro-oncology
- Childhood Brain Tumors
Context:
- Ependymomas are a significant type of pediatric brain tumor.
- Diagnosis can be challenging in early stages, often presenting with non-specific symptoms.
- Intracranial pressure signs may appear later in the disease progression.
Purpose:
- To analyze clinical manifestations and histological types of pediatric ependymomas.
- To evaluate the impact of diagnosis timing and treatment on patient survival.
- To correlate histological subtypes with prognosis in childhood ependymomas.
Summary:
- Clinical analysis of 63 pediatric ependymomas revealed diagnostic difficulties before raised intracranial pressure signs. Vomiting and abdominal pain can indicate intraventricular tumors.
- Histological examination identified five ependymoma types, with the 'numerous cells' subtype being most prevalent (63%).
- Subtotal tumor removal correlated with a 12-month mean survival, while radical surgery led to longer survival, up to 16 years.
Impact:
- Highlights the importance of early referral to specialists for improved pediatric brain tumor management.
- Provides insights into the diverse histological characteristics of ependymomas in children.
- Emphasizes the prognostic significance of surgical extent and histological subtype in pediatric ependymoma outcomes.
Abstract:
Clinical analysis of 63 cerebral and cerebellar ependymomas in children aged up to 14 years showed that in the initial period of the disease the diagnosis based only on clinical manifestations may be difficult, before the appearance of signs of raised intracranial pressure eintraventricular or paraventricular ependymomas may cause attacks of vomiting, abdominal pains or signs of meningeal irritation. In every case with supposed brain tumour the child should be referred to a specialist since the results are better in earlier diagnosed and treated cases. Histological examination of biopsy material showed presence of 5 types of ependymonas: 1. with numerous cells (63%), 2 mixed (15%), 3 malignant (11%), 4 subependymal (4%), 5, epithelial (3%). In cases with subtotal removal of the tumour the mean survival is 12 months. After radical operation of the tumour the longest survival was 16 years.