The clinical picture associated with hydrocephalus culminates in the diagnosis of a tumor of the spine

a tumor In the pediatric patient, it first appeared in a way that doctors had not anticipated.

And that is that a 5-year-old patient who arrived at the emergency rooms at a local San Juan Hospital developed symptoms related to the neuropsychiatric picture that was initially thought to be Hydrocephalus.

This patient has a clinical history of pain head, Nausea and vomiting, as stated in an interview with Dr. Jessica Rosario Salero, MD, from the Department of Pediatrics at the Hospital Foundation.

The Hydrocephalus It occurs when fluid builds up inside the deep cavities (ventricles) of the brain.

“In the beginning, the first thing that gets diagnosed is Hydrocephalus It is also associated with tumors head, But the X-ray and CT images did not reveal any abnormalities in head, Just Hydrocephalus The symptoms were thought to be secondary effects of this disease.

“The Hydrocephalus The patient entered with a neurology team to drain the ventricles into the abdomen and thus relieve the pressure he was suffering, but that did not resolve the patient’s symptoms. This is why we gave ourselves the task of looking at Spinal Cord This is complete when we find it tumor In the spine, “the doctor added.

The doctor emphasized that these types of cases are rare because spinal tumors have other symptoms that did not necessarily appear in this patient.

“This is a rare case, due to its location, as the patient showed other types of symptoms such as back pain, leg pain, difficulty walking, urinary incontinence and in some cases fecal incontinence. However, his appearance appears to have been an anomaly in head Because in the end, he lost vision in one eye, and these are symptoms tumor Either in the cervical region or in head. That is why it was such an remarkable and extraordinary case. “

“We find in the literature that it is rare, since most tumors in the back show local symptoms, and not as presented by our patient, who had Hydrocephalus Symptoms are high in the skull. These cases mentioned in the literature occur in only 10% of pediatric patients, who are understood to have this type of pathology. tumor He pointed out that less than 3% could show the symptoms that the patient had.

He finally argued that tumor The spinal cord can be treated with treatment provided by a neurosurgeon.

“In the case of our patient he did not ask Chemotherapy Nee Radiation therapyIt was surgery, so once that tumorThere will be no more problems. east tumor It can be repeated on occasions, and the solution is surgery. “

Journalist Catherine Trujillo Usishi contributed to this story.