Masahiro Ishihara1, Kazumi Yamamoto2, Hideaki Miwa3, Masaya Nishi2. 1. Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka Rosai Hospital, 1179-3 Nagasone-cho, Kita-ku, Sakai City, Osaka, 591-8025, Japan. mishihara0907@gmail.com. 2. Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka Rosai Hospital, 1179-3 Nagasone-cho, Kita-ku, Sakai City, Osaka, 591-8025, Japan. 3. Department of Pathology, Osaka Rosai Hospital, Sakai City, Osaka, Japan.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Spontaneous regressions of brain stem gliomas are extremely rare. Only six cases have been reported in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the case of a patient who was diagnosed with a pontomedullary dorsal brain stem glioma at the age of 15 years. An open biopsy showed the presence of an anaplastic glioma. Because the patient and her parents refused conventional therapies, including radiation and chemotherapy, we followed up the patient by performing magnetic resonance imaging scans on her every 3 months. At 3 months after biopsy, we observed the radiological disappearance of her tumor. One year after biopsy, the tumor retained the spontaneous complete regression observed earlier. CONCLUSION: In this case report, we present the first report of the spontaneous complete regression of a brain stem glioma that was histologically proven to be a high-grade glioma and we believe that this regression was the natural progression of this case, as may be the scenario in a few other cases of brain stem gliomas.
BACKGROUND: Spontaneous regressions of brain stem gliomas are extremely rare. Only six cases have been reported in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the case of a patient who was diagnosed with a pontomedullary dorsal brain stem glioma at the age of 15 years. An open biopsy showed the presence of an anaplastic glioma. Because the patient and her parents refused conventional therapies, including radiation and chemotherapy, we followed up the patient by performing magnetic resonance imaging scans on her every 3 months. At 3 months after biopsy, we observed the radiological disappearance of her tumor. One year after biopsy, the tumor retained the spontaneous complete regression observed earlier. CONCLUSION: In this case report, we present the first report of the spontaneous complete regression of a brain stem glioma that was histologically proven to be a high-grade glioma and we believe that this regression was the natural progression of this case, as may be the scenario in a few other cases of brain stem gliomas.
Authors: C F Parsa; C S Hoyt; R L Lesser; J M Weinstein; C M Strother; R Muci-Mendoza; M Ramella; R S Manor; W A Fletcher; M X Repka; J A Garrity; R N Ebner; M L Monteiro; R M McFadzean; I V Rubtsova; W F Hoyt Journal: Arch Ophthalmol Date: 2001-04