Characteristics and symptoms of glioma

With the development of examination technology, the diagnosis of brain glioma has become easier. However, not all patients can find it in time in the early stage of the disease and go to the hospital for examination. Instead, they come to the hospital for treatment when the tumor is already very large. What are the characteristics and symptoms of glioma? Let's learn about it today.

1. Headache: About 30% of patients with brain gliomas experience headaches, and about 70% of them have gradually worsening headaches. This type of headache is mostly non-specific, but intermittent, mostly located on the same side of the lesion, and manifests as dull pain rather than throbbing pain, which is sometimes difficult to distinguish from tension headaches. Brain gliomas usually manifest as forehead pain, while cerebellar gliomas often manifest as pain in the occipital region and neck. If the tumor is too large and produces high intracranial pressure, the headache will be significantly aggravated, sometimes waking up from sleep due to pain, and significantly aggravated during vigorous head movement, sometimes accompanied by nausea and vomiting. If the intracranial hypertension persists for too long, there will also be symptoms of decreased vision.

2. Mental changes: About 15% to 20% of glioma patients have changes in mental state as the first symptom, mainly manifested in changes in emotions, personality, cognitive function, memory, etc.

3. Focal neurological symptoms: Different locations of tumors can also cause corresponding neurological deficits, such as limb paralysis, sensory impairment, aphasia, unstable gait, alexia and agraphia.

4. Cranial nerve symptoms: Damage to different cranial nerves will produce corresponding neurological symptoms, such as decreased vision, diplopia, strabismus and facial paralysis.

5. Epileptic seizures: About 1/3 of patients with brain gliomas experience epileptic seizures, and the incidence increases to 50-70% during the course of the disease. Half of the epilepsy is localized, while the other half is systemic. Slow-growing low-grade gliomas are particularly prone to epileptic seizures, while glioblastomas have a low chance of causing epileptic seizures.

In general, brain gliomas can manifest all the symptoms of neurological diseases, but not all symptoms will appear in a particular person, and these early symptoms will vary with the type of tumor, tissue characteristics, location and speed of growth.