Clinico-pathological study of central nervous system tumors

Abstract

Introduction: Central nervous system tumors show varied histomorphological spectrum although they are less frequent when compared to other sites. Central nervous system (CNS) tumors refer to neoplasms that originate in the brain and spinal cord of which over 90% are located in the brain. CNS malignancies account for approximately 1.7% of new cancers annually. Aims and Objectives: 1: To study the demography and determine the relative frequency of the various histopathological types of CNS tumors; 2: To relate the occurrence of the various types of CNS tumors with age, sex, signs, symptoms, location and to study the various spectrum of histopathological features of CNS tumors and grade according to WHO classification (2007). Results and Conclusion: The most frequent type of CNS tumor was meningioma followed by astrocytoma of which WHO grade IV tumor was frequent and schwannoma. The peak incidence was in 41-50 years age group. Overall Males are affected more than females, with male to female ratio of 1.2:1 except in meningioma where there is a female preponderance with male to female ratio of 1:2.1. The most frequent clinical feature was headache and seizures in supratentorial tumors of intracranial region, backache, weakness and sensory disturbances in spinal cord tumors. The most commonest site of occurrence was frontal lobe followed by multilobe involvement. Keywords: CNS tumors.