Even symptoms appear gradually and differ according to the location of the tumour. Not all meningiomas need to be treated or
at least immediately. For malignant meningiomas treatment focuses on eliminating the tumour and relieving the compression in the brain.
Symptoms:
Like the tumour’s growth, the symptoms appear gradually and initially may be subtle. Depending on the location in the brain,
or rarely in the spine, the tumour occurs, symptoms include the following:
- Changes in vision, seeing double or blurriness
- Headaches that get worse with time
- Hearing loss or ringing in the ears
- Memory loss
- Loss of smell
- Seizures
- Weakness in the limbs
Diagnosis:
Diagnosis begins with the doctor checking the patient’s and his/her family’s medical history. A comprehensive physical examination
is followed by a neurological audit. The latter includes testing the patient’s mental condition, memory, muscle strength and coordination, reflexes,
cranial nerve function and response to pain.
Further testing will be done with tumour scans like Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), computerised tomography (CT), etc. to help determine the type,
stage and location of the tumour. In many cases, further investigation through angiograms of the blood vessels or even a biopsy may become necessary.
MENINGIOMA OVERVIEW :
Meningioma is a tumour that originates in the meninges, a membrane that covers and protects the brain and spinal cord. Most meningiomas are benign
and are slow growing. Even symptoms appear gradually and differ according to the location of the tumour. Not all meningiomas need to be treated or
at least immediately. For malignant meningiomas treatment focuses on eliminating the tumour and relieving the compression in the brain.
Treatments:
Treatment options for meningiomas vary according to the patient’s age, general health and the size, stage and location of the tumour.
Every treatment has its own benefits and risks, which the doctor discusses with the patient beforehand
Surgery:
Surgical intervention remains the best option if the meningioma is growing, malignant and causing symptoms. A neurosurgeon performs
open brain surgery or craniotomy to remove all of the tumour or most of it as its location dictates. Samples of the tumour are taken during surgery and
examined to confirm the type of the tumour and its stage. If some of the tumour is left attached to neighbouring arteries or nerves, radiation therapy
can eradicate the remainder.
There are many advanced technologies, which have greatly improved the neurosurgeon’s ability to locate the tumour precisely,
define its borders, avoid injury to critical brain regions and confirm how much of the tumour can safely be removed during surgery. These procedures
include:
- Image-guided surgery (IGS)
- Brain mapping functional MRI (fMRI)
- Keyhole & endoscopic surgery
- Interoperative MRI or CT
