RESUMEN
High-grade meningiomas make up a relatively minor proportion of meningiomas, which are one of the most common types of primary intracranial tumors in adults. Though rare, a considerable portion of high-grade meningiomas arise from malignant transformation of benign meningiomas. The 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) classification criteria introduced molecular markers in the diagnosis and grading of central nervous system (CNS) tumors and assigned certain genomic mutations to grade 3 meningiomas. We report a case of a 54-year-old male patient who underwent stepwise malignant transformation of meningioma from WHO grade 1 to grade 3 within 10 years, during the course of five surgeries followed by adjuvant stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy. We performed next-generation sequencing (NGS) on the most recent grade 3 meningioma specimen and found that it carried a telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter (TERTp) mutation (c.-124C>T) in accordance with the 2021 WHO criteria for grade 3 meningiomas. We then retrospectively examined the previous grade 1 and 2 specimens and found them to have the same mutation. We reviewed the significance of molecular markers in the diagnosis of meningiomas, possible genetic alterations associated with their malignant transformation, and what measures could be taken to effectively manage meningiomas considering NGS findings.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Academic performance is an important issue for Korean students. Various psychological factors contribute to academic performance. We aimed to evaluate the psychological factors that affect academic performance integratively. METHODS: A total of 102 academic high achievers and 120 comparison participants were recruited. We evaluated psychological factors (test anxiety, perfectionism, personality traits, resilience, and self-efficacy) and measured academic performance using the College Scholastic Ability Test and the current college grade. We compared psychological factors and academic performance between the academic high achiever and comparison groups. Multiple linear regression was then conducted to identify the significant psychological factors for high academic performance. Further, we used cluster analysis to classify the comparison group by the significant psychological factors and compared them among clusters and academic high achievers to determine the psychological characteristics of academic high achievers. RESULTS: The academic high achiever group showed lower test anxiety (p = .002), less neuroticism (p = .001), higher self-efficacy (p = .028), and less socially prescribed perfectionism (p < .001) than the comparison group. Multiple linear regression results (p = .020) clarified that neuroticism (p = .020), test anxiety level (p = .047), and perfectionism (p = .035) were important factors predicting better academic performance. Academic high achievers had moderate test anxiety and perfectionism levels, with the best performance on the College Scholastic Ability Test. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroticism, test anxiety levels, and perfectionism are important psychological factors for high academic performance. Interventions targeting these factors may help to improve academic accomplishments.
