Turkish Neurosurgery
2005 , Vol 15 , Num 1
Are Metachronous Multicentric Gliomas Systemic or Metastatic Disease of the Brain? Case Report and Review of the Literature
Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
A 40-year-old male had been operated five years ago due to a right frontal
diffuse infiltrative astrocytoma grade II and the tumor had been removed
grossly. There was no other lesion in the posterior fossa at that time and the
patient received radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Five years later, the patient
presented with an infiltrative intraaxial lesion in the left cerebellar hemisphere
and vermis and superior to the right cerebellar hemisphere, also compressing
the brainstem. After an emergency shunt procedure, the tumor was removed
grossly. The histopathological examination revealed a grade III anaplastic
astrocytoma. Whether multicentric gliomas (MCG) develop following
metastasis with an unknown pathway, or whether they are multifocal and
should be considered as a systemic disease of the brain, is open to discussion.
We suggest that this pathological condition should be accepted as a systemic
disease of the brain. Radiotherapy may induce new tumor foci. The treatment
should always be aggressive removal.
Keywords :
Glioma, multicentric glioma, multiple cerebral lesions, multiple glioma