A 44-year-old female patient came to Anoop Patel, MD, Duke neurosurgeon, after being diagnosed with a meningioma brain tumor. The patient presented to an ED in South Carolina after experiencing a seizure.
An MRI completed in the ER revealed a 6.9 cm by 5.0 cm by 4.4 cm meningioma in the anterior-posterior direction. She had experienced decreased motor function on her right side, a persistent headache, and a tonic contraction of the foot and leg tightening for several weeks leading up to the seizure.
The patient was then transferred to Duke for further evaluation. “The mass was in the parasagittal region of the brain, and it was directly compressing on the part of the brain controlling right leg movement,” says Patel.
Patel continues, “Resecting tumors in this location is challenging because they can contact the motor cortex. We also had to consider maintaining the integrity of the sagittal sinus and the collateral cortical veins. Interrupting the venous flow can cause severe swelling in the brain and is potentially life-threatening.”