What are the symptoms of pineal tumors?

With the development of modern science and technology, our understanding of people's physiology has become increasingly profound. Some tissues that were difficult to discover with previous technology have been dissected out, explaining the causes of many difficult and complicated diseases. For example, the pineal gland is a relatively difficult-to-find tissue that plays a very important role inside the human body and has a very high probability of becoming ill. For example, pineal tumor is a common disease. Let’s take a look at the symptoms of pineal tumor.

Pinealoma refers to the increased secretion of gonadotropin and sex hormones caused by pineal tumors (the pineal gland has an antagonistic effect on the secretory function of the pituitary gland), also known as precocious puberty syndrome and premature giant genitals syndrome. Common tumors include: pinealoblastoma, pineocytoma, glioblastoma, teratoma, germ cell tumor, seminoma, astrocytoma, etc., which account for about 1% of intracranial tumors and are more common in boys. There are two main types of pineal cells: pineal parenchymal cells and glial cells. The most common pineal tumors are germ cell tumors and teratomas. 75% to 80% of pineal tumors are malignant, including germ cell tumor carcinomas, pinealoblastomas and certain gliomas. The rest are benign tumors, such as pinealocytoma, teratoma, dermoid cyst, etc.

Clinical manifestations: Some patients have precocious puberty; symptoms of tumor compression may include headache and vomiting; invasion of the hypothalamus may cause diabetes insipidus or other hypothalamic neuropsychiatric symptoms. The main neurological symptoms are inability of the eyes to look up, paralysis of the oculomotor nerve, eye movement disorders, ataxia, changes in pupil reflexes, including Ah-Rodriguez pupil, drowsiness, etc. When the tumor compresses the quadrigeminal body, the pupil will be dilated and the upward and downward gaze movement of both eyeballs will be impaired, which is called quadrigeminal syndrome. It can also cause cerebellar ataxia, and endocrine symptoms are characteristic of precocious puberty. Sometimes, autonomic nervous system disorders such as cyanosis of the extremities may occur due to the tumor involving the third ventricle. There may be decreased vision, papilledema, and abnormal gait.

Examination 1. Patients with hormone-secreting germ cell tumors in the pineal region have increased levels of β-HCG and AFP in the cerebrospinal fluid. 2. Exfoliative cytology of cerebrospinal fluid is most valuable for diagnosing germ cell tumors and pinealoblastoma.

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