How can glioma be diagnosed

Glioma refers to a tumor that occurs in the neuroectodermal tissue, referred to as glioma. It is the most common intracranial tumor. However, many people now have symptoms but do not know that they are already ill. So, how can glioma be diagnosed?

1. Imaging examination

With the development of medical diagnostic technology and the updating of diagnostic instruments, various imaging examinations play an important role in the diagnosis of tumors, including X-ray fluoroscopy, radiography, angiography, tomography, ultrasound, radionuclide scanning and selective angiography, etc., which can provide accurate positioning diagnosis for tumors.

X-ray examination can determine the location, shape, size, etc. of the tumor, and help determine the nature of the tumor. It is widely used, but its accuracy may be reduced when the tumor is very small. There are three examination methods:

① Ordinary X-ray fluoroscopy and radiography: commonly used for lung tumors, bone tumors, and other tumors adjacent to the lungs and invading bone tissue.

② Contrast examination: It is suitable for the parts where the X-ray contrast between tumor and normal tissue is poor. For example, barium meal or barium enema can be used for digestive tract tumors, which can show the barium filling defect, mucosal damage, luminal stenosis, wall damage, etc. in the area where the tumor is located. When necessary, foaming agent or gas injection can be used for contrast, or scopolamine can be used to relax smooth muscle (hypotonia) to improve image clarity. Contrast of other organs mostly uses iodine preparations (glucamine diatrizoate, Kangrui liquid, sulfonyl finger, etc.), which are injected intravenously, taken orally, can be intubated by endoscope or selective vascular intubation, etc., and can show tumors of kidney, brain, gallbladder, liver, pancreas, etc. Gas can also be used alone as a contrast agent, such as pneumoencephalography and retroperitoneal inflation to diagnose brain and retroperitoneal kidney and adrenal tumors.

③ Special imaging: Tomography and fluorescence photography (indirect photography) are used for chest tumors; selenium electrostatic X-ray and molybdenum target X-ray tube photography are used for breast tumors. Computer tomography (CT) is very meaningful for the early detection and positioning of deep tumors, especially intracranial tumors and solid organ tumors in the abdominal cavity. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the advantages of being harmless to the human body, having no ionizing radiation, being able to perform multi-directional tomography, and having high image resolution. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is valuable for the positioning of tumors and the blood supply of tumors. Since the above special imaging technologies have been applied clinically, they are not only of diagnostic value for liver, brain, lung, and kidney tumors, but also effective for the observation and follow-up of the efficacy of tumor treatment.

(II) Pathological examination

Cytological examination: Since tumor cells are more likely to fall off from the original site than normal cells, various methods can be used to obtain tumor cells and tissue particles and identify their properties. For example, the concentration method is used to collect cells from sputum, pleural effusion, ascites or washing fluid; the net method is used to collect esophageal and gastric exfoliated cells; the printing method is used to obtain superficial tumor surface cells. The puncture method can also be used to obtain relatively deep tumor cells for cytological examination. However, in clinical practice, it has been found that there are disadvantages such as false positives or low positive rates, and it cannot completely replace pathological tissue section examination.