0000000000009113
AUTHOR
Claudia Gaggiotti
End-of-Life Care in High-Grade Glioma Patients. The Palliative and Supportive Perspective.
High-grade gliomas (HGGs) are the most frequently diagnosed primary brain tumors. Even though it has been demonstrated that combined surgical therapy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy improve survival, HGGs still harbor a very poor prognosis and limited overall survival. Differently from other types of primary neoplasm, HGG manifests also as a neurological disease. According to this, palliative care of HGG patients represents a peculiar challenge for healthcare providers and caregivers since it has to be directed to both general and neurological cancer symptoms. In this way, the end-of-life (EOL) phase of HGG patients appears to be like a journey through medical issues, progressive neurologic…
A rare diagnosis of an extraventricular neurocytoma
Background: Extraventricular neurocytoma (EVN) is an extremely rare neoplasm of the central nervous system. As reported, it arises in a variety of locations, but mainly within the cerebral hemispheres. Despite its histological similarity with central neurocytoma (CN), EVN occurs outside the ventricular system and, in 2007, was recognized by the World Health Organization as a separate entity. Case Description: A 39-year-old man, with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt inserted for communicating hydrocephalus, was admitted at our Unit of Neurosurgery with a 1-month history of gait disturbance, postural instability, speech disorders, and occasional incontinence. Computed tomography scan and magneti…