Ependymoma is a tumor that arises from the ependyma, a tissue of the central nervous system. Usually, in pediatric cases the location is intracranial, while in adults it is spinal. The common location of intracranial ependymoma is the fourth ventricle. Rarely, ependymoma can occur in the pelvic cavity.

Syringomyelia can be caused by an ependymoma. Ependymomas are also seen with neurofibromatosis type II.

Symptoms

• severe headache
• visual loss (due to papilledema)
• vomiting
• bilateral Babinski sign
• drowsiness (after several hours of the above symptoms)

Ependymoma tumors

Ependymomas make up about 5% of adult intracranial gliomas and up to 10% of childhood tumors of the central nervous system (CNS).

Their occurrence seems to peak at age 5 years and then again at age 35. They develop from cells that line both the hollow cavities of the brain and the canal containing the spinal cord, but they usually arise from the floor of the fourth ventricle, situated in the lower back portion of the brain, where they may produce

• headache
• nausea
• vomiting

by obstructing the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. This obstruction may also cause hydrocephalus.

They may also arise in the spinal cord, conus medularis and supratentorial locations. Other symptoms can include (but are not limited to):

• loss of appetite
• difficulty sleeping
• temporary inability to distinguish colors
• uncontrollable twitching
• seeing vertical or horizontal lines when in bright light
• temporary memory loss

It should be remembered that these symptoms also are prevalent in many other illnesses not associated with ependymoma.

About 85% of ependymomas are benign myxopapillary ependymoma (MPE) that is a localized and slowly growing, low-grade tumor.

Although some ependymomas are of a more anaplastic and malignant type, most of them are not anaplastic. Well-differentiated ependymomas are usually treated with surgery.

For other ependymomas, total surgical removal is the preferred treatment in addition to radiation therapy.

The malignant (anaplastic) varieties of this tumor, malignant ependymoma and the ependymoblastoma, are treated similarly to medulloblastoma but the prognosis is much less favorable. Malignant ependymomas may be treated with a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Ependymoblastomas, which occur in infants and children younger than 5 years of age, may spread through the cerebrospinal fluid and usually require radiation therapy.

The subependymoma, a variant of the ependymoma, is apt to arise in the fourth ventricle but may occur in the septum pellucidum and the cervical spinal cord. It usually affects people over 40 years of age and more often affects men than women.

Extraspinal ependymoma (EEP), also known as extradural ependymoma, may be an unusual form of teratoma or may be confused with a sacrococcygeal teratoma.

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