According to WHO statistics, meningioma is considered one of the most common types of primary neoplasms in the brain, accounting for up to a quarter of all diagnosed cases of tumors in the central nervous system. This is a benign neoplasm, but its large size (up to 15 cm) can cause irreversable damage to healthy brain tissues and significantly worsen patient’s quality of life due to damage to important areas of the brain, in addition, the tumor can degenerate into a malignant one. In Israeli clinics, meningiomas are treated primarily by neurosurgical methods with an extremely low probability of relapse.
Risk factors
- Age over 40 years. The reasons for this are not fully understood, but statistically, meningioma more often affects people in the age group of 40-70 years old.
- Women suffer from this disease three times more often, but men have a higher risk of developing a malignant tumor.
- High-dose radiation often provokes the development of neoplasms in the brain, including meningioma.
- Neurofibromatosis type II and other similar genetic diseases.
- Head injuries, including those received a long time ago.
Symptoms of meningioma
Like most other benign neoplasms in the central nervous system, this tumor develops slowly and often without pronounced symptoms. Often, meningioma is detected accidentally, for example, during CT or MRI in the treatment of ENT diseases. However, the tumor still has some indirect symptoms associated with affecting important brain centers.
- Frequent headaches that worsen over time, especially at night.
- Dizziness, instability, and poor coordination.
- Deterioration of visual acuity and bifurcation.
- Causeless nausea and vomiting.
- Forgetfulness and mental disorders.
- Weakness in the extremities, more often on one side, depending on the location of the tumor.
- Speech and auditory disorders if neoplasm develops in the temporal lobe.
- Bulging of one eyeball when the tumor is located in the eye’s orbit.
However, all these symptoms are characteristic not only for meningioma, so an accurate diagnosis is possible after a comprehensive diagnosis in the clinic.
Diagnostics
Neurosurgical centers in Israel use state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment that allows to make an accurate diagnosis and draw up a treatment plan for meningioma at a board of doctors.
- Angiography to assess the condition of the vessels feeding the tumor.
- Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography (CT, MRI, and PET), including those using contrast agents.
- A puncture.
Meningioma treatment in Israel
Due to the presence of a clear margin between the tumor and healthy brain tissue, this type of benign neoplasm responds well to neurosurgical resection.
Before removing a meningioma, it is necessary to embolize (block) blood vessels feeding it. For this purpose, microspheres of medical polymers are inserted through a catheter inserted into an artery under constant intraoperative CT monitoring of in real time. Vascular embolization makes it possible to reduce the size of the tumor even before removal and reduce blood loss during surgery.
Meningioma removal is performed in Israeli clinics with minimally invasive methods using advanced neurosurgical equipment. If the malignancy of the tumor is defined, complex treatment is carried out with gentle chemotherapy with the latest generation of drugs, radiation therapy and radiosurgery.
Not only high qualification of neurosurgeons and quality of medical equipment are important for complex treatment of meningioma, but also proper postoperative rehabilitation, when the brain functions that are disrupted by the tumor are restored. All conditions are present in Israel for brain cancer treatment, as well as for comfortable and effective rehabilitation after surgery and a course of therapy.