Hemiparesia izquierda en un paciente diabético: encefalitis granulomatosa crónica por Acanthamoeba / Left-sided hemiparesis in a diabetic patient: chronic granulomatous encephalitis due to Acanthamoeba

No disponible

[WHO grade II gliomas: review of the current management]. / Gliomas hemisféricos OMS grado II: revisión del manejo actual.

The optimal management of diffuse WHO grade II gliomas (GGII) is still controversial. Some authors propose a long-term radiological follow-up of the tumor, others perform a biopsy and treat only if clinical or radiological signs of progression, finally, others propose an active treatment from diagnosis. There is mounting evidence that suggest that expectant management is no longer optimal, supporting active treatment from diagnosis. In the present work, an extensive review of the recent literature was performed, in order to clarify some of these controversies. Neuroimaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), multivoxel spectroscopy or methionine positron emission tomography (PET), give valuable information about the tumor, but lack of sufficient reliability to make a definitive diagnosis of GGII. Stereotactic biopsy leads to misdiagnosis in up to 71% of cases, which has been associated with sampling errors and inter-observer variability due to the small sample obtained. Therefore, it is now considered that a definitive diagnosis of GGII requires a detailed histological analysis of the sample after maximum tumor removal. Despite the lack of class I evidence, there is growing evidence from cohort studies, favoring extensive surgical resection to improve survival and time to tumor degeneration. Surgery is also effective to treat epilepsy, as an improvement in up to 76% of drug-resistant epilepsies has been documented. Consequently, surgery is now considered as a crucial step for diagnosis and treatment of these tumors. Early radiotherapy after surgery lengthens the period without progression but does not affect overall survival, and is related to cognitive disorders that affect quality of life. Hence, this treatment could be deferred until tumor progression.

Gliomas hemisféricos OMS grado II: revisión del manejo actual / No disponible

El manejo de los gliomas difusos OMS grado II (GGII) es a día de hoy controvertido. Algunos autores proponen una actitud expectante, con seguimiento radiológico a largo plazo, otros proponen realizar una biopsia y plantear un tratamiento solo si hay signos clínicos o radiológicos de progresión, y por último otros proponen un tratamiento activo desde el diagnóstico. En los últimos años han aparecido varios estudios que pueden ayudar a aclarar estas controversias. En este trabajo se revisa la literatura reciente con a intención de aclarar algunos puntos controvertidos en el manejo de los GGII. Las secuencias convencionales de resonancia magnética (RM) y otras técnicas de neuroimagen más recientes, como la espectroscopia multivoxel o la tomografía por emisión de positrones (PET) con metionina, carecen de la fiabilidad suficiente para realizar un diagnóstico definitivo de GGII. La biopsia estereotáxica es poco invasiva, pero conduce a errores diagnósticos en GGII hasta en el 71% de los casos, lo que se ha asociado a errores en el muestreo y a la variabilidad interobservador por la escasa muestra obtenida. Por todo ello, se considera actualmente que el diagnóstico definitivo de GGII solo se consigue mediante el análisis histológico de la muestra obtenida tras la extirpación máxima del tumor. Respecto al impacto pronóstico de la cirugía, no existe evidencia clase I, pero hay fuertes indicios provenientes de estudios de cohorte con gran número de pacientes y seguimiento a largo plazo de que la extirpación extensa tiene un impacto positivo en la supervivencia y en el tiempo hasta la malignización del tumor. El tratamiento quirúrgico es también efectivo para (..) (AU)

Control de las crisis epilépticas durante el postoperatorio inmediato de los tumores cerebrales supratentoriales: recomendaciones del Grupo de Neurocirugía Funcional y Estereotáctica de la Sociedad Española de Neurocirugía / Primary prophylaxis of early seizures after surgery of cerebral supratentorial tumors: Group for the Study of Functional-Sterotactic Neurosurgery of The Spain Society of Neurosurgery recommendations

Con la finalidad de proponer una serie de recomendaciones del tratamiento médico antiepiléptico, en el perioperatorio de los tumores cerebrales supratentoriales, se realiza una revisión de la literatura enfocada sobre todo a la profilaxis primaria de las crisis epilépticas precoces acaecidas en el postoperatorio inmediato. Se concluye que es recomendable pautar profilaxis primaria antiepiléptica poscirugía durante una semana en los pacientes con tumor cerebral supratentorial que no han presentado crisis epilépticas. Si las crisis aparecen durante la evolución de la enfermedad, es necesario pautar un tratamiento a largo plazo. Dadas las características de estos pacientes, se recomienda usar un fármaco antiepiléptico con presentación por vía intravenosa y un perfil bajo de interacciones. El levetiracetam, seguido del valproato, parecen ser los más adecuados. Dichas recomendaciones deben considerarse como una guía general de manejo, pudiendo ser modificadas, incluso de manera significativa, por las circunstancias propias de cada caso clínico (AU)

Our review of the literature is basically focused on the primary prophylaxis of early seizures after surgery of cerebral supratentorial tumors, with the aim of suggesting several recommendations in medical antiepileptic treatment to avoid this kind of seizures which occur immediately after surgery. In conclusion, it is recommended to provide criteria for prophylaxis of early seizures after surgery of cerebral supratentorial tumors. It's recommended a one week treatment with antiepileptic drugs in patients who didn't have seizures jet, starting immediately after the surgical treatment. If seizures appear during progress of the disease, a large period treatment will be needed. Preferred antiepileptic treatment is intravenous and with a low interactions profile. Levetiracetam, followed by valproic acid seem to be most appropriated drugs due to their properties and protective effects, particularly for our patients requirements. These recommendations are considered a general proposal to effective clinical management of early seizures after surgery, not taking into account the single circumstances of our patients. Always, clinical features of the patients could modify even significantly these guides in the benefit of each patient (AU)

Prognostic factors and survival in a prospective cohort of patients with high-grade glioma treated with carmustine wafers or temozolomide on an intention-to-treat basis.

BACKGROUND: Patients with high-grade glioma can be treated with carmustine wafers or following the Stupp protocol. As far as we are aware, no scientific evidence has been published comparing the two treatments. The primary objective of this study was to analyse the survival of groups of patients with each of these treatment modalities. The secondary objective was to assess the influence of the usual prognostic factors on the patients in our hospital. METHODS: A prospective cohort of 110 patients with single, supratentorial high-grade glioma treated by craniotomy and tumour resection was retrospectively studied. Half of the patients had carmustine wafers placed during this operation while the others (55) did not, the latter group receiving first-line systemic chemotherapy on an intention-to-treat basis. FINDINGS: Patients treated with carmustine wafers had a median survival of 13.414 months compared with 11.047 in the group without implants (p = 0.856). For the overall cohort of patients, the following factors were found to influence survival: age (p < 0.0001), postoperative KPS score (p = 0.001), histological grade (p = 0.004), RPA class (p = 0.001), extent of resection (p = 0.002) and salvage surgery (p = 0.028). CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective cohort of patients, analysed on the basis of intention-to-treat at the time of the first surgery, no statistically significant differences in survival were found between the two treatment modalities (carmustine wafers vs. first-line systemic chemotherapy). On the other hand, age, preoperative KPS, histological grade, and RPA class were confirmed to be prognostic factors in this cohort. Finally, the extent of resection was also found to influence survival.

[Surgical pathology of epilepsy]. / Patología quirúrgica de la epilepsia.

INTRODUCTION: The surgical treatment of refractory epilepsy represents a large step forward in the quality of life and survival of many patients, particularly for those whose pathology is located in the temporal lobe. AIM: To concentrate the basic histological aspects of an extremely varied, although generally little known, genuinely neural pathology into one single review work. DEVELOPMENT: The causes of refractory epilepsy with a genuinely neurohistological foundation can be either malformative or neoplastic. The former include cortical dysplasias and hippocampal sclerosis, while the latter involve the so-called glioneuronal tumours (dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumour, ganglioglioma) and some glial cell-related tumours. CONCLUSIONS: There is a group of disorders that are intrinsic to cerebral development and primary brain tumours which are closely related to epilepsy. Surgery applied to these processes cures epilepsy in a high percentage of cases that are resistant to pharmacological treatment.

Patología quirúrgica de la epilepsia / Surgical pathology of epilepsy

Introducción. El tratamiento quirúrgico de la epilepsia refractaria a fármacos ha supuesto un avance decisivo en la calidad de vida y en la supervivencia de muchos enfermos, particularmente en aquéllos cuya patología está localizada en el lóbulo temporal. Objetivo. Condensar en un solo trabajo de revisión los aspectos histológicos básicos de una patología genuinamente neural muy variada y, en general, poco conocida. Desarrollo. Las causas de epilepsia refractaria con base genuinamente neurohistológica pueden ser malformativas o neoplásicas. Entre las primeras están las displasias corticales y la esclerosis del hipocampo, y, entre las segundas, los denominados tumores glioneuronales (tumor neuroepitelial disembrioblástico, ganglioglioma) y algunos tumores de estirpe glial. Conclusiones. Existe un grupo de alteraciones intrínsecas del desarrollo cerebral y de tumores cerebrales primarios que está estrechamente relacionado con la epilepsia. La cirugía aplicada a estos procesos cura la epilepsia en un elevado porcentaje de casos refractarios a los tratamientos farmacológicos (AU)

Introduction. The surgical treatment of refractory epilepsy represents a large step forward in the quality of life and survival of many patients, particularly for those whose pathology is located in the temporal lobe. Aim. To concentrate the basic histological aspects of an extremely varied, although generally little known, genuinely neural pathology into one single review work. Development. The causes of refractory epilepsy with a genuinely neurohistological foundation can be either malformative or neoplastic. The former include cortical dysplasias and hippocampal sclerosis, while the latter involve the so-called glioneuronal tumours (dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumour, ganglioglioma) and some glial cell-related tumours. Conclusions. There is a group of disorders that are intrinsic to cerebral development and primary brain tumours which are closely related to epilepsy. Surgery applied to these processes cures epilepsy in a high percentage of cases that are resistant to pharmacological treatment (AU)