Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0034065 (pulmonary embolism)
 14,979 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The standard 6 week course of post-operative radiotherapy for glioblastoma multiforme (astrocytoma grade IV) is lengthy, considering the poor prognosis. The standard schedule is especially unsuitable for hospitalized patients and for those with poor prognostic factors (such as old age and poor performance status) since their survival is particularly short. In order to improve the survival-treatment time ratio, we entered a total of 14 hospitalized patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and poor prognostic factors (mean age 62, mean KPS 57%) into a Phase I trial of accelerated fractionation (AF) external beam radiotherapy. A total tumor dose of 5400-5500 cGy was given in 3 weeks: 4300-4500 cGy whole brain using 100 cGy tid fractions on weekdays plus a 900-1200 cGy boost using single daily fractions of 150-200 cGy on weekends. Only one patient entered did not complete therapy, due to the development of pulmonary embolism resulting in death. Mean survival for all 14 patients from the time of surgical diagnosis was 30.4 weeks. The schedule was well tolerated and resulted in a substantial decrease in treatment time compared to conventional fractionation in these patients. AF schedules should continue to be explored since they may be more appropriate than conventional fractionation schedules for GBM patients with poor prognostic factors, particularly when hospitalized.
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PMID:Accelerated fractionation radiotherapy for hospitalized glioblastoma multiforme patients with poor prognostic factors. 217 May 91

Venous thromboembolism commonly affects patients receiving treatment for primary and secondary cerebral tumors. We review the recent literature on the molecular mechanisms underlying this hypercoagulable state and clinical studies of antithrombotic prophylaxis and therapy in this population. A computerized search of the MEDLINE database for articles from 1966 to the present day. Keywords/search terms used were glioma, astrocytoma, glioblastoma multiforme, cerebral tumor, primary brain tumour, secondary brain tumour, venous thromboembolism, thromboprophylaxis, heparin, warfarin, anticoagulants, and caval filters. Although neurological deficit has been identified as an independent risk factor for thrombosis it is also clear that malignant brain tumors induce changes in the makeup of circulating blood, making it more likely to clot. Concern for the perceived risk of perioperative intracranial bleeding with antithrombotic prophylaxis appears not to be justified by the available evidence. Prospective assessment of low molecular weight heparins for prophylaxis and treatment of established thrombosis is required. Antithrombotic therapy may also offer advantages over intracaval devices in prevention of secondary pulmonary embolism in patients with brain tumors.
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PMID:Thromboembolism in brain tumors. 1158 84

The authors report the case of a 51-year-old patient with hydrocephalus following posterior fossa surgery (cerebellar astrocytoma) treated by ventriculo-peritoneal shunt, then ventriculo-atrial shunt. After repeated valve revisions (diffuse peritoneal loculation, intracardiac thrombus responsible for dyspnoea and recurrent pulmonary embolism, shunt infections), another mode of shunting was required. The authors opted for ventriculo-ureteric shunt comprising ureteric reimplantation into a psoas bladder, without associated nephrectomy, which appears to constitute an alternative in the case of difficult surgical management of hydrocephalus or after failure of other modes of ventricular shunting.
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PMID:[Ventriculo-ureteric shunt without associated nephrectomy for the treatment of hydrocephalus]. 1537 83

Brainstem gliomas in adults are rare tumors, with heterogeneous clinical course; only a few studies in the MRI era describe the features in consistent groups of patients. In this retrospective study, we report clinical features at onset, imaging characteristics and subsequent course in a group of 34 adult patients with either histologically proven or clinico-radiologically diagnosed brainstem gliomas followed at two centers in Northern Italy. Of the patients 18 were male, 14 female, with a median age of 31. In 21 of the patients histology was obtained and in 20 it was informative (2 pilocytic astrocytoma, 9 low-grade astrocytoma, 8 anaplastic astrocytoma and 1 glioblastoma). Contrast enhancement at MRI was present in 14 patients. In all of the 9 patients who were investigated with MR spectroscopy, the Cho/NAA ratio was elevated at diagnosis. In 8 of the patients, an initial watch and wait policy was adopted, while 24 were treated shortly after diagnosis with either radiotherapy alone [4] or radiotherapy and chemotherapy [20] (mostly temozolomide). Only minor radiological responses were observed after treatments; in a significant proportion of patients (9 out of 15) clinical improvement during therapy occurred in the context of radiologically (MRI) stable disease. Grade III or IV myelotoxicity was observed in 6 patients. After a follow-up ranging from 9 to 180 months, all but 2 patients have progressed and 14 have died (12 for disease progression, 2 for pulmonary embolism). Median overall survival time was of 59 months. Investigation of putative prognostically relevant parameters showed that a short time between disease onset and diagnosis was related to a shorter survival. Compared with literature data, our study confirms the clinical and radiological heterogeneity of adult brainstem gliomas and underscores the need for multicenter trials in order to assess the efficacy of treatments in these tumors.
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PMID:Natural history and management of brainstem gliomas in adults. A retrospective Italian study. 1829 27