IUBio

I need some help

dag.stenberg at helsinki.nospam.fi dag.stenberg at helsinki.nospam.fi
Mon May 10 06:54:19 EST 1999


DILIPACK <si.dilipack at wanadoo.fr> wrote:
> NEUROSURGEONS,
> IN THE NAME OF GOD, PLEASE HELP ME
> I absolutely need medical information of people, cause my sister who has  an
> Astroblastonna cerebral tumour it’s said rare.
> For 2 years, my sister had 30 operations at the “Pitié Salpétrière Hospital”
> (FRANCE). The tumour has been taken off but not the root which are not very
> well placed.
> After the operation she had 33 radiotherapy session which did work a beat
> and the tumour did not grow during 2 years.
> But the tumour is growing again and not on the right side. It means that
> soon it will be impossible to take it off so her days are numbered..

I am sorry to hear about your sister. 
  Astroblastomas and other glial tumors are difficult to cure, because they
are invasive, that is, grow into other  parts of the brain without 
staying within a "capsule" or defined area. In the case of
astroblastoma, it can also change into other forms of glial tumors and
spread along blood vessels. That is why it is difficult to eliminate
completely by surgery.
  If the tumor, as in the case of your sister, has "rooted" into other
areas, and has perhaps to be operated again, it is always a danger that
when operating on the tumor, some other brain functions are disturbed.
With the aid of magentoencephalography combined with magnetic resonance
imaging it is possible to find out, before an operation, if operating
the tumor is dangerous to any vital function, like speech, movement,
vision... One can thus let the patient choose if she wants to be
operated (and lose some function) or not (and die sooner).
  The survival times after therapy in these rare tumors have been from one
to  20 years, but the fact that complete resection by surgery was not
possible is not an encouraging sign. 
  The Pitié-Salpêtrière is a famous hospital, and the surgeons there
are surely be capable of achieving anything that can be achieved by
surgery.

Dag Stenberg, M.D., Ph.D. (who is NOT a neurosurgeon)



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