Epileptic seizures caused by encephalomalasic cysts following radiotherapy: a case report

Cerebral radionecrosis is a delayed and rarely observed complication of radiotherapy. Cerebral radionecrosis may occur as cystic encephalomalasic formations which cover the intracranial region. These cysts may, in rare cases, become quite large. They may cause drug-resistant seizures, neurological d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cases journal 2009-07, Vol.2 (1), p.7026
Main Authors: Erol, Fatih Serhat, Akgun, Bekir
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brain diseases
Case report
Case studies
Complications and side effects
Diagnosis
Patient outcomes
Radiotherapy
Risk factors
Seizures (Medicine)
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cerebral radionecrosis is a delayed and rarely observed complication of radiotherapy. Cerebral radionecrosis may occur as cystic encephalomalasic formations which cover the intracranial region. These cysts may, in rare cases, become quite large. They may cause drug-resistant seizures, neurological deficits and consciousness disorders. A 55-year-old, Turkish female patient was admitted to hospital with seizure, consciousness disorder and weakness in the right side of her body. The patient had history of an operation in the left maxillary area due to basal cell carcinoma 7 years previously and then history of radiotherapy due to relapse 2 years later the operation. The patient had large cystic encephalomalasic lesions. Despite steroid and dual antiepileptic treatments, the patient's complaints had significantly worsened and seizures continued. Surgical treatment resulted in a significant improvement. This report underlines the significance of surgery in cerebral radionecrosis treatment in well-selected cases using appropriate approaches.
ISSN:1757-1626
1757-1626
DOI:10.4076/1757-1626-2-7026