What are the clinical symptoms of glioma

Brain glioma is unfamiliar to many people, who think that these diseases are far away. In fact, if you experience nausea, vomiting, or eye problems in your life, you must go to the hospital for a check-up in time. Glioma is a common disease occurring in the brain. Once confirmed, it must be treated in time. Let us now understand the current status of glioma treatment.

Symptoms mainly manifest in two aspects. One is increased intracranial pressure and other general symptoms, such as headache, vomiting, vision loss, diplopia, epileptic seizures and mental symptoms. The other is local symptoms caused by the compression, infiltration and destruction of brain tissue by the tumor, resulting in neurological dysfunction.

Headaches are mostly caused by increased intracranial pressure. As the tumor grows, the intracranial pressure gradually increases, compressing and pulling on pain-sensitive structures in the brain, such as blood vessels, dura mater, and certain cranial nerves, causing headaches. Most of the headaches are throbbing and distending pains, mostly in the frontal, temporal, or occipital regions. For superficial tumors in one cerebral hemisphere, the headaches may mainly occur on the affected side. The headaches are intermittent at first, mostly occurring in the early morning. As the tumor develops, the headaches gradually worsen and last longer.

Vomiting is caused by stimulation of the vomiting center in the medulla oblongata or the vagus nerve. There may be no nausea at first, and it is projectile. In children, the headache may not be obvious due to cranial suture separation, and because tumors in the posterior cranial fossa are common, vomiting is more prominent. Increased intracranial pressure can cause papilledema, and over time it can cause secondary atrophy of the optic nerve and decreased vision. Tumors compressing the optic nerve can cause primary optic atrophy, which also causes decreased vision. The abducens nerve is easily compressed and pulled, often causing paralysis and double vision.

Some tumor patients have epilepsy symptoms, which may be early symptoms. Epilepsy that begins in adulthood is generally symptomatic and is mostly caused by brain tumors. Those who are difficult to control with drugs or whose seizures change in nature should be considered to have brain tumors. Those with tumors adjacent to the cortex are more likely to develop epilepsy, while those with tumors deep inside are less likely to develop epilepsy. Localized epilepsy has localization significance.

Some tumors, especially those located in the frontal lobe, may gradually cause psychiatric symptoms such as personality changes, indifference, decreased speech and activity, inattention, memory loss, lack of concern for things, and lack of cleanliness.

Local symptoms will occur according to the location of the tumor, and will progressively worsen. Especially for malignant gliomas, which grow faster, infiltrate and destroy brain tissue, and cause significant surrounding brain edema, local symptoms are more obvious and develop faster. Intraventricular tumors or tumors located in the quiet area may have no local symptoms in the early stages. Tumors in important functional areas such as the brainstem will show local symptoms in the early stages, and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure will not appear until a considerable period of time. Some tumors that develop more slowly often do not show symptoms of increased intracranial pressure until the late stages due to compensatory effects.