Introduction Central nervous system (CNS) tumors encompass histologically diverse entities with widely varying prognostic and therapeutic implications. Within the brain, tumors can be divided into two main categories: primary and secondary brain tumors. Primary brain tumors arise from the brain…
Introduction There is significant overlap in the imaging appearance and presentation of dural-based mass lesions. The differential diagnosis includes both benign lesions (such as meningioma—WHO grade I) and more aggressive, malignant lesions (such as dural-based metastasis, atypical or malignant meningioma—WHO…
Introduction Chemotherapy has a crucial role in the management of gliomas. Traditionally, the management is characterized by an extensive surgery followed by a combination of radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy. In general, chemotherapy has been used as a neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or…
Background: radiation biology and physics overview Radiation therapy treats cancer by causing DNA damage, most importantly double-strand breaks (DSBs). Although normal cells can efficiently detect and repair DSBs through homologous recombination or non-homologous end joining, malignant cells lack these mechanisms…
Introduction to brain and spine tumor surgery For tumors affecting the brain and spinal cord, surgical resection is the fastest and most definitive treatment. In some cases, it is also the safest, such as when mass effect from the tumor…
Introduction In typical cases, the clinical workflow for brain tumors begins with imaging studies; however, despite the increased sensitivity and capabilities of these methodologies, diagnosing brain tumors requires histopathologic evaluation of tissue. It is imperative for clinicians to understand how…
Hereditary metabolic myopathies are a group of muscle disorders that result from a shortage of energy production (i.e., deficiency of adenosine triphosphate [ATP]). In muscle, ATP is produced by aerobic glycogenesis or glycogenolysis and glycolysis, using the respiratory chain, or…
The autoimmune inflammatory myopathies comprise five major and distinct subsets: polymyositis (PM), dermatomyositis (DM), necrotizing autoimmune myositis (NAM), overlap myositis and antisynthetase syndromes (OM-AS), and inclusion body myositis (IBM) ( ). Although moderate to severe muscle weakness, endomysial inflammation, and…
Endocrine Disorders Table 21.1 summarizes the neuromuscular manifestation of these disorders. Table 21.1 Neuromuscular Manifestation of Endocrine Disorders Modified with permission from Bertorini T. E. (2008). Neuromuscular case studies . Philadelphia: Butterworth-Heinemann. Diabetes Symptoms Laboratory Test Results EMG Biopsy Treatment…
Muscular dystrophies have long been recognized as heterogeneous inherited disorders, characterized by progressive skeletal muscle degeneration, weakness, and dystrophic changes in muscle biopsy. These diseases are known to have autosomal dominant, recessive, or X-linked inheritance. Clinical observations initially led to…