ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Brain tumors represent the most common cause of cancer-related death in children. Few studies concerning the palliative phase in children with brain tumors are available. OBJECTIVES: (i) To describe the palliative phase in children with brain tumors; (ii) to determine whether the use of palliative sedation (PS) depends on the place of death, the age of the patient, or if they received specific palliative care (PC). METHODS: Retrospective multicenter study between 2010 and 2021, including children from one month to 18 years, who had died of a brain tumor. RESULTS: 228 patients (59.2% male) from 10 Spanish institutions were included. Median age at diagnosis was 5 years (IQR 2-9) and median age at death was 7 years (IQR 4-11). The most frequent tumors were medulloblastoma (25.4%) and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) (24.1%). Median number of antineoplastic regimens were 2 (range 0-5 regimens). During palliative phase, 52.2% of the patients were attended by PC teams, while 47.8% were cared exclusively by pediatric oncology teams. Most common concerns included motor deficit (93.4%) and asthenia (87.5%) and communication disorders (89.8%). Most frequently prescribed supportive drugs were antiemetics (83.6%), opioids (81.6%), and dexamethasone (78.5%). PS was administered to 48.7% patients. Most of them died in the hospital (85.6%), while patients who died at home required PS less frequently (14.4%) (p = .01). CONCLUSION: Children dying from CNS tumors have specific needs during palliative phase. The optimal indication of PS depended on the center experience although, in our series, it was also influenced by the place of death.
Subject(s)
Brain Neoplasms , Central Nervous System Neoplasms , Cerebellar Neoplasms , Medulloblastoma , Neoplasms , Terminal Care , Child , Humans , Male , Child, Preschool , Female , Palliative Care , Central Nervous System Neoplasms/therapy , Brain Neoplasms/therapy , Retrospective Studies , Terminal Care/methodsABSTRACT
La patología mamaria en pediatría es infrecuente. El hallazgo de una masa a nivel mamario en un lactante es una situación poco común. Los posibles diagnósticos a esta edad son absceso mamario, mastitis, ingurgitación mamaria por estimulación hormonal materna y hemangioma. Es importante llegar al diagnóstico adecuado para emplear un tratamiento acorde y evitar la aparición de complicaciones de dichas patologías. Se presenta un caso de una lactante con una masa en la mama derecha detectada desde el nacimiento. Inicialmente, se trató como una mastitis, pero dada la mala evolución, se plantearon diagnósticos diferenciales y se concluyó que se trataba de un hemangioma. Debido a la ulceración de la lesión, junto con el riesgo existente de desarrollar hipoplasia mamaria, se decidió iniciar tratamiento con propanolol, con resolución casi completa de la tumoración.
Mammary pathology is infrequent during childhood. It is rare the probability of finding a breast mass in an infant. The most frequent possible diagnoses at this age are breast abscess, mastitis, breast engorgement due to maternal hormonal stimulation and hemangioma. Reaching the proper diagnosis is essential in order to apply a suitable treatment and avoid the potential disease complications. We present the case of a female infant having a mass in the right breast from birth. Initially the entity was treated as mastitis. Nevertheless, the bad evolution made necessary considering the differential diagnosis. It was concluded to be a hemangioma. Due to the lesion ulceration and the potential risk of developing breast hypoplasia, treatment with propranolol was started. The tumor was almost completely resolved.
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Infant , Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis , Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy , Hemangioma/diagnosis , Hemangioma/drug therapy , Mastitis/diagnosis , Nipples , Diagnosis, DifferentialABSTRACT
Mammary pathology is infrequent during childhood. It is rare the probability of finding a breast mass in an infant. The most frequent possible diagnoses at this age are breast abscess, mastitis, breast engorgement due to maternal hormonal stimulation and hemangioma. Reaching the proper diagnosis is essential in order to apply a suitable treatment and avoid the potential disease complications. We present the case of a female infant having a mass in the right breast from birth. Initially the entity was treated as mastitis. Nevertheless, the bad evolution made necessary considering the differential diagnosis. It was concluded to be a hemangioma. Due to the lesion ulceration and the potential risk of developing breast hypoplasia, treatment with propranolol was started. The tumor was almost completely resolved.
La patología mamaria en pediatría es infrecuente. El hallazgo de una masa a nivel mamario en un lactante es una situación poco común. Los posibles diagnósticos a esta edad son absceso mamario, mastitis, ingurgitación mamaria por estimulación hormonal materna y hemangioma. Es importante llegar al diagnóstico adecuado para emplear un tratamiento acorde y evitar la aparición de complicaciones de dichas patologías. Se presenta un caso de una lactante con una masa en la mama derecha detectada desde el nacimiento. Inicialmente, se trató como una mastitis, pero dada la mala evolución, se plantearon diagnósticos diferenciales y se concluyó que se trataba de un hemangioma. Debido a la ulceración de la lesión, junto con el riesgo existente de desarrollar hipoplasia mamaria, se decidió iniciar tratamiento con propanolol, con resolución casi completa de la tumoración.