Continuum : lifelong learning in neurology
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Continuum (Minneap Minn) · Dec 2017
ReviewPalliative Care, End-of-Life Care, and Advance Care Planning in Neuro-oncology.
Despite new therapeutic approaches, most patients with high-grade glioma face limited overall survival and have a high symptom burden throughout their disease trajectory, especially in the end-of-life phase. This article provides an overview of the role of palliative care in neuro-oncology. Management recommendations are made for neurologic symptoms in patients with advanced brain tumors, including headaches, nausea, and fatigue. Special attention is given to how and when to involve subspecialty palliative care and hospice services to improve symptom management during active tumor treatment and in the end-of-life phase of patients with brain tumors. Advance care planning and end-of-life goals should be addressed early in the disease trajectory; this article provides a road map for these discussions. ⋯ Palliative care can address typical symptoms, such as fatigue, nausea, and headaches that have the potential to severely disable patients with brain tumors. Advance care planning should be introduced proactively and early in the disease trajectory to ensure a dignified death and improved caregiver bereavement.
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Continuum (Minneap Minn) · Dec 2017
Review2016 World Health Organization Classification of Central Nervous System Tumors.
Since 1979, the World Health Organization (WHO) has periodically published a consensus classification and grading of tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) to ensure uniform histopathologic diagnostic criteria worldwide. In 2016, the WHO published an update of the fourth edition of the classification of CNS tumors. This article summarizes the major changes in the update and discusses their impact on clinical practice. ⋯ The use of integrated phenotypic and genotypic parameters for the classification of CNS tumors introduces greater objectivity to the diagnosis but also requires more widespread availability of molecular testing. It is hoped that these changes will lead to greater diagnostic accuracy with more biologically homogeneous diagnostic entities and improved patient management and determination of prognosis.
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As a group, benign tumors account for the majority of primary neoplasms affecting the central nervous system (CNS). This article reviews the epidemiology, clinical presentation, neuroimaging features, and management of the most common of these tumors: meningiomas, schwannomas, and pituitary adenomas. ⋯ As a group, nonmalignant neoplasms are the most common neoplasms affecting the CNS in adults. Because of their unique neuroanatomic location or containment within the bony skull, these histologically benign lesions can cause significant neurologic morbidity. Management with a multidisciplinary team that includes neurologists, neuro-oncologists, radiologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, otolaryngologists, pathologists, neuropsychologists, physiatrists, and others is necessary for the optimal management of these lesions.