Retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma, is a rare malignant tumor of the retina of the eye. This diesease is usually found in young children that are usually around 1-2 years of age. It can be found in children all the way up to usually 6 years old.

Causes

Retinoblastoma usually occurs when a cell in the retina becomes mutated. The retina cells then start to grow uncontrollably and the growth becomes cancerous. This cancerous tumor is usually hereditary and children who have a the gene in their families are 50% more likely to develop retinoblastoma. Symptoms of this disease include: whiteness of the pupil of the eye and a cancerous growth growing from the affected eye. The eye can lose sight and blindess will then occur in that eye. The eyes can appear crossed and if the tumor is left untreated it can spread to the optic nerve, eye socket, brain, lungs, and even bone.

Treatment

Treatment solely depends on the size of the tumor, location, and if it has spread or not. If the tumor is small it can be cured by laser surgery and if the tumor has spread then chemotherapy treatment will be needed to further cure the part to where the mutation had spread to. Almost all patients that have the tumor can be cured if the tumor has not spread past of the eye, depending on the severity of the tumor will depend if they whole eye must be removed. If the tumor has spread there is a lower survival rate, it all depends on how the tumor was spread. A patients best bet is to contact there healthcare provider if there are abormalities with the eyes and even if the eyes look abnormal in photographs. MRIs are usually obtained to help diagnose Retinoblastoma, T1 and T2 images are obtained in all 3 planes and the Axial is the most useful. Contrast will be administered to judge whether it is a tumor or not and also if the tumor has spread to different areas other than its orgin.

Prolactinoma

Prolactinoma

Prolactinoma is a noncancerous pituary gland tumor. This particular tumor tends to make the pituitary gland overproduce the hormone prolaction. Which is a sex hormone regular hence, estrogen for women and testosterone for men. This tumor is not usually life threatening and can be treated with medications or if they are having issues with visual impairent or infertility they can opt for surgery to have the tumor removed.

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms for Prolactinoma vary from person to person and definitely from male to female. In males the symptoms can range from: headaches, infertility, visual impairment, loss of sexual drive, high levels of sex hormones, erectile dysfunction, and uncommonly enlarged breasts. In females the symptoms can be: irregular menstral periods, milky white discharge from breasts when the female isn't pregnant, painful dry sexual intercourse, and low bone density.

There are other diseases besides Prolactinonma that can cause an overproduction of prolactin, such as : hypothyrodism, different medications (high blood pressure medicine,tranquilzers, and antinausea), other pituitary tumors, and pregnancy.
Prolactinomas are not common in children. Prolactinomas are occur more in women and men. Women are usually diagnosed at a younger age then men are.

MRI is used with and without contrast to help see the tumor in differnet planes. The contrast helps to isolate the tumor and will usually appear white in the images when contrast is administered.

Complications of Prolactinoma

Some complications of this disease can include: Vision loss is the tumor is not found it can press against the optic nerve. Osteoporosis , prolcation helps control estrogen which helps to regulate your bone density, and Pregnancy if a women is pregnant her pituitary usually produces more prolaction but, when a women has a prolactionma she can experience headaches, nausea vomiting and extreme fatigue because of the excess prolactin.

Meniere's Disease

Meniere's Disease

I chose Meinere's Disease because I have a friend's mother that actually was diagnosed with Meiere's Disease of the inner ear. Studies have shown that Meniere's disease is common in 200 out of 100,000 people, and usually occurs in people that are 40 years of age or older.

Meniere's inner ear disease is caused usually by, " Distention of the endolymphatic compartment of the inner ear." This dieseae strictly deals with the fluid flowing in the inner ear. It usually only happens in one of a patients ears. Why a person will suddenly have Meniere's diease is unknown. Sometimes Meniere's Disease will just suddenly appear and can be triggered from trauma or a fall. Symptoms of Meniere's Disease include: episodes of vertigo, feeling like the room is spinning, ringing in the ear, feeling like there is a pressure in the ear, and also hearing loss that will just come and go throughout the attack. MRI is used to have different pictures in different planes to help rule out different pathologies that could have the same symptoms as Menieres disease to help with a faster diagnosis, if the patient does have Meniere's disease.

TREATMENT

Treatment for Meniere's disease strictly depends on how bad a persons attack is and how bad there attacks are. The diesase is mostly commonly controlled through a patient's diet with limiting sodium and caffiene intake. Stress can trigger a Menieres diesase attack as well. If a person has a lot of pressure in there ear a Diuretic or water pill can be prescribed to help with the pressure. The Vertigo and Nausea are treated with Dramamine and Antivert. For drastic cases surgery can be performed to prevent further deteriortation of hearing loss. The decision to operate on the patient is purely up to the patient and there are risks of going deaf involved with Menieres Disease and if surgery is opted for as well. Smoking (JUSTIN) has been linked to the occurance of Meniere's disease, but some studies do not think that is a credible statement, but other studies that have been performed say that some patients when quitting smoking their attacks and symptoms were no longer there.

My friend's mother went to a specialist for her Meniere's Disease and they told her there wasn't a lot they could do with her, although she does drink a lot of caffiene and eats a lot of sodium and she has been trying to control her Meniere's disease with diet she has been trying to come up with some kind of cure without surery, so that she doesn't eventually lose her hearing for good. She said that deafness is what eventually will happen in that ear.

Medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma

Axial view of head... with and without contrast.

I chose this disease because I had never heard of it before, and I figured it had to do with the Medulla oblongata and everyone seems to be obsessed with that word and its very fun to say!


What is Medulloblastoma?

Medulloblastoma is a disease that is usually malignant. It is one of the most common central nervous system tumors found during child hood. This highly malignant tumor can be found in the 4th ventricle in the brain. This ventricle is located in between the brain stem and the cerebellum. If this tumor is left untreated it is highly susceptible to spreading to the central nervous system and though not likely even to specific organs. The only way to determine that you could potentially have this disease is through an MRI and through a cerebral spinal fluid analysis to stage the cancer cells.


Symptoms of Medulloblastoma

The most commonly seen symptoms of this disease are: headaches, unsteadiness, high pressure within the brain, fatigue, and even vomiting. Vomiting is usually due to the blockage of cerebral spinal fluid flow to the brain. Because this type of tumor is ridiculously fast growing diagnosis is usually within the first 1-3 months of the patient starting to have the specific symptoms. In rare cases the patient could even be in a coma or appear in a great amount of distress do to bleeding within the tumor itself.

Sagittal T1 MRI image with contrast

Treatment

There are many treatments that are available now to help treat Medulloblastoma. The most common treatment methods are: VP shunt, surgery to remove the tumor, radiation, and chemotherapy. Although there are always risks involved in all three treatments, treatment options can be scary and very nerve racking. A ventriculoperitoneal shunt is used to help regulate CSF pressure within the brain. According to studies treatment has become a lot more effective and safer for this disease. Life expectancy is much more significant if the tumor is taken out and treated aggressively. Although with these treatment options there are great risks involved, such as loss of speech and balance difficulties. Many studies are being conducted for this disease, so far they have concluded that 8 out of 10 children that are treated aggressively with radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy are usually at some degree of being tumor free or cured after 5 years of extensive treatment, although they only have a 50% chance of staying disease free post treatment.