Original Research Article DOI: 10.18231/2394-2738.2018.0032 The Journal of Community Health Management, July-September, 2018;5(3):140-146 140 Frequency of primary central nervous system tumors in a tertiary hospital, Cairo, Egypt Iman Hewedi 1,* , Riham Ibrahim 2 , Tarek Elserry 3 , Nourhan Taha 4 , Hadeer Mohamed 5 , Mohammed Hassan 6 , Hagar Attia 7 , Khaled Abd Elaziz 8 1,8 Professor (M.D), 2 Lecturer (MD), 3 Assistant Professor (MD), 4,5,6,7 M.B.B.C.H, 1,2 Dept. of Pathology, 3 Dept. of Neurosurgery, 4,5,6,7 Faculty of Medicine, 8 Dept. of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt *Corresponding Author: E-mail: iman_hewedi@med.asu.edu.eg Abstract Introduction: In Egypt, few epidemiologic reports have highlighted the national and regional epidemiologic data regarding primary CNS tumors. In this study we aim to identify the frequency of various primary CNS tumors and to demonstrate the age group distribution, gender, topographic data and the different histopathologic types among our patients. Materials and Methods: Data on all cases of primary CNS neoplasms received at Pathology department of Ain Shams University Specialized hospital in addition to a referral neuropathology lab during the period from 2010 to 2015 were collected with a total number of 996 cases. The patients were divided according to their age into two main groups, pediatric group including children and adolescents (from 0-18 years), and adult group (> 18 years). Patients’ demographic data and histopathologic tumor types were analyzed. Result: Frequency of primary CNS tumors among males was higher than females (51.7% vs. 49.3% respectively). Regarding patient age, frequency among adults was (89.4%) compared to pediatric age group (10.6%). Gliomas were the most common primary CNS tumors in adults (35%) followed by meningiomas (33.3%) then pituitary adenomas (15.6%); while in pediatric group embryonal tumors (17%) were the second most common following gliomas (59.4%). Conclusion: This study highlighted the frequency, spectrum and prominent features of primary CNS tumors among Egyptian patients, in comparison to many worldwide reports. This study recommends the establishment of specialized national center for CNS tumors in Egypt; this will provide efficient registry system and accurate data analysis for these tumors. Keywords: Epidemiology, CNS tumors, Egypt, Pediatric, Glioma, Meningioma. Introduction Primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors are relatively not common, their overall incidence is estimated as 19.34/100,000 persons per year. Generally, males are reported to have higher rates of primary malignant CNS tumors; however, females have higher rates of benign tumors, including meningioma. Among pediatric population, primary CNS tumors constitute about 20% of all solid tumors, only preceded by leukemia. 1 In Egypt, few epidemiologic reports have highlighted the national and regional incidence of primary CNS tumors; one population-based study reported their overall incidence to be 5.34%, 7.25%, 4.49% in Upper, Middle and Lower Egypt, respectively. 2 This study showed that the calculated incidence rate of brain tumors and nervous tissue was 6.9 for males and 5.8 for females with an age standardized incidence rate of 9.0 in 100.000 males and 8.0 in 100.000 females. 2 The fact that primary CNS tumors are not frequent, renders the data obtained from their epidemiologic studies crucial, in order to recognize the burden of the disease and to provide an insight for understanding its heterogeneity and time trend variation. The results of similar reports are essentially useful for planning the health care modalities and future research in given community. 4 In this study, we elucidate the frequency distribution of primary CNS tumors in a single hospital, which represents a tertiary health care referral center, serving patients from different geographic locations of the country. We aim to identify the frequency of primary CNS tumors and to demonstrate the age group distribution, gender preference, topographic data and the different histopathologic types. Materials and Methods The study is retrospective study and the data was obtained from the archive of pathology department at Ain Shams University Specialized Hospital in addition to data from a referral histopathology laboratory Cairo, Egypt. The data collection targeted six years from January 2010 to December 2015. The confidentiality of patient information was strictly maintained while reviewing these data sets. Basic information such as the patient demographic data and tumor location were retrieved to be analyzed. The patients were divided according to their age into two main groups, pediatric group including children and adolescents (from 0-18 years), and adult group (> 18 years). This study was designed to include all primary CNS tumors that arise from the brain and spinal cord, in