Based on the MRI, the patient was diagnosed with obstructive hydrocephalus, the magnetic resonance imaging scans, show enlargement of the third and lateral ventricles secondary to multiple posterior fossa metastases, which are narrowing the cerebral aqueduct, the fourth ventricle, and the fourth ventricular outflow tract, supratentorial metastasis is also noted, an MRI of the brain also shows multiple metastases, including a posterior fossa lesion causing obstructive hydrocephalus
Oh look, It's Brain Surgery !
A medical related blog to this beautiful branch of the medicine world. In here you will find medical cases, usefull data, interactive and graphic explanations about diseases and procedures and much more. Welcome and enjoy!
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An axial or horizontal magnetic resonance image of a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor in a human patient. Image courtesy of RadioGraphics.
Killing killer brain tumors
Glioblastoma multiforme are the most common and lethal of brain tumors in adults. The median survival time after diagnosis is just 12 to 14 months. The condition is almost invariably fatal.
Compounding their deadliness, GBMs tend to become quickly resistant to current drug treatments. In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California, San Diego say they may know why, describing a new molecular pathway that might eventually lead to more effective GBM therapies.
The study, headed Paul Mischel, MD, a professor in the department of pathology in UC San Diego’s School of Medicine, looked at a signaling pathway called the mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR and at a multipurpose gene-encoded protein called promyleocytic leukemia or PML.
The work builds upon earlier research suggesting that the best way to kill GBM tumors is to block the signaling pathways that preserve and promote their survival.
MTOR is “hyperactivated” in close to 90 percent of glioblastomas and plays a critical role in regulating tumor growth and survival. It is considered to be a major therapeutic target. However, PML causes resistance to drugs designed to inhibit mTOR signaling. When glioblastoma patients are treated with mTOR-inhibitory drugs, PML levels rise and drug resistance grows, eventually rendering the drugs useless.
So the researchers went looking for something that suppresses or reduces PML levels, which would leave tumors more vulnerable to mTOR inhibitor drugs. They believe they’ve found it in arsenic trioxide, a molecule whose therapeutic use dates back to traditional Chinese medicine. In low doses, arsenic trioxide has been found to degrade the PML protein in leukemia patients. In their tests, the UC San Diego scientists discovered that it did the same in mice with brain tumors, reversing resistance to mTOR inhibitory drugs so that there was massive cancer cell death and significant tumor shrinkage, with no ill side effects.
Mischel and colleagues are now planning to test the therapy in people. You can read more about their research here.
(via fuckyeahnarcotics)
You can’t diagnose the cause of this ring enhancing lesion on a single image, but this 4-minute video will help you crack the case! Play video
Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu (1920-2008) was a Romanian neurosurgeon and is considered to be one of the first female neurosurgeons in the World, after performing her first brain surgery in 1944.
She was a neurosurgeon for 47 years at Hospital Nr. 9, forming an extraordinary team with Ionel Ionescu, and Constantin Arseni, under the guidance of doctor Dimitrie Bagdasar. They formed the first neurological team of Romania, later called “The golden team”, which helped develop neurosurgery in Romania.
(Source: chevolution, via impossiblekosmos)
Lobar haemorrhage - an intracerebral bleed (haemorrhagic stroke) that occurs superficially within the cerebral lobes. In contrast to hypertensive haemorrhages which occur deep within the brain, primary lobar haemorrhages occur superficially due to cerebral amyloid angiopathy. They typically occur in elderly patients and as with any haemorrhage, it is important to consider the possibility of an underlying tumour or vascular malformation.
This short video tutorial is courtesy of Dr Frank Gaillard and the Radiology Channel.
Recurrent oligodendroglioma with bilateral, diffuse infiltration of the frontal and temporal lobes.
Hypertensive haemorrhage - high blood pressure is the most common cause of primary intracerebral haemorrhage (also known as haemorrhagic stroke). Typical locations include:
- basal ganglia and thalamus ~ 80%
- pons ~ 10%
- cerebellar hemispheres ~ 10%
This short educational video comes to you courtesy of Dr Frank Gaillard and the RadiologyChannel.
Cailyn loved Zebras. This is Lucy the Zebra, who Cailyn made friends with this summer. Her owner brought her to M.D. Anderson a few days ago to visit Cailyn.
She passed away early this morning. I appreciate all the prayers, and help raising money for treatment, the cards, and support from my Tumblr family. Please continue to pray for my family.
Many of you might remember Cailyn. We raised money for her treatment a few months ago. Unfortunately, she passed away this morning.
Send her aunt attherisk your support, and join Cailyn’s facebook page, Cailyn’s Parade.
