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Copyright: © 2016 Spallone A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Volume: 3.1 Case Report
Lately-Occurring Stroke following Glioma Surgery:
Report of a Case and Review of the Literature
Spallone A
1, 2
*, Lavorato L
1
and Di Capua M
1
1
Department of Clinical Neurosciences-Section of Neurosurgery, NCL (Neurological Centre of Latium) -
Neuromed, Rome, Italy
2
Catholic University “Our Lady of Good Counsel”, Tirana, Albania
Received date: 22 Oct 2016; Accepted date: 22
Nov 2016; Published date: 28 Nov 2016.
Citation: Spallone A, Lavorato L, Di Capua M
(2016) Lately-Occurring Stroke following Glioma
Surgery: Report of a Case and Review of the
Literature. J Neurol Neurobiol 3(1): doi http://dx.doi.
org/10.16966/2379-7150.134
Copyright: © 2016 Spallone A, et al. This is an
open-access article distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author and source are credited.
*
Corresponding author: Spallone A, Department of Clinical Neurosciences-Section of
Neurosurgery, NCL-Neurological Centre of Latium, Rome, Italy, Tel: 06763741; E-mail:
segreteria1@nclroma.it
Introduction
Te occurrence of post-operative stroke following surgery for brain
glioma is a rare complication as a rule related to intraoperative technical
difculties leading to signifcant vessel occlusion [1]. Postoperative stroke
has a negative impact on quality of life following surgery and may afect
negatively postoperative survival of glioma-bearing patients.
Ischemic stroke occurring relatively late following an apparently
uncomplicated surgery for cerebral glioma is an extremely rare
event: 20 out of 6500 cases (0.03%) in a large cases series from a
single Institution reported very recently [2]. We report here a case
of a 64-yers-old man who developed a stroke two weeks following an
apparently uncomplicated, though technically demanding, gross total
removal of a deep temporal glioma.
Case Report
A 64-years-old right-handed man was admitted in May 2015 with
a diagnosis of intracerebral right temporal lesion detected by CT-
scan (Computerized Tomography Scan). General examination was
unremarkable. Te patient was a long-time smoker under treatment for
mild arterial hypertension. No other risk factors for vascular diseases
were encountered. Post-contrast MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
completed with MRI angiography demonstrated an irregularly enhancing
round temporo-insular lesion which dislocated superiorly to the right the
M2-M3 branches of the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) (Figure 1).
Te patient underwent an awake gross-total resection of the mass two
days afer his admission. Surgery was uneventful although the removal of
the deepest portion of the tumor had required careful dissection under
high magnifcation from some tightly adherent M3 branches, which were
carefully respected. Te patient exhibited a slight motor weakness of the
lef extremities which did not prevent him from walking a few hours
following surgery and disappeared a few days later. Postoperative CT-scan
(Figure 2) showed some contrast enhancement at the deep periphery of
the surgical cavity which was interpreted as possible tumor residual, in
spite of the intraoperative impression of gross total removal. Post-contrast
ISSN 2379-7150
Abstract
The occurrence of post-operative stroke following surgery for brain glioma is a rare complication as a rule related to intraoperative technical
diffculties leading to signifcant vessel occlusion. Ischemic stroke occurring relatively late following an apparently uncomplicated surgery for
cerebral glioma is an extremely rare event. We report here a case of a 64-yers-old man who developed a stroke two weeks following an
apparently uncomplicated, though technically demanding, gross total removal of a deep temporal glioma and discuss the possible implications of
this, though extremely rare, pathological event.
Keywords: Glioma; Surgery; Stroke; Ischemic
MRI performed on the following day showed total removal of the lesion
(Figure 3). Post-operative steroid therapy was tapered gradually and the
patient was discharged on post-operative day 6
th
.
15 days later he was readmitted on an emergency basis due to sudden
occurrence of a lef hemiparesis. Emergency CT-scan showed only local
swelling. MRI demonstrated early ischemia in the right MCA territory
and Angio-MRI showed some possible spasm of the supraclinoid ICA
(Internal Carotid Artery) with MCA occlusion at its bifurcation (Figure 4).
In the following days there was a slight improvement of his dense
hemiparesis, and the patient was referred elsewhere for possible
radiotherapeutic treatment. While waiting for this he developed a
signifcant CSF (Cerebrospinal Fluid) accumulation at the surgical site,
which did not respond to local treatment and required implantation of
a uni-shunt valve, afer which the fap swelling resolved. He was then
admitted to an oncological department for post-operative radio- and
chemotherapy, which was initiated but soon thereafer interrupted due
to supervening pneumonia. Tis was treated with an initial success,
but recurred later and ultimately led to his death, four month following
surgery, three month and a half afer the stroke. Te last CT-scan still did
not show residual tumor (Figure 5). Te patient underwent surgery of
brain glioma resection according to the operating standards. Radiological
examinations were subsequently performed with CT scan and MRI (1.5T).
A) B)
Figure 1: (A,B) Pre-op post contrast MRI (axial seed angio MRI).