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Pineal Region Tumors in Pediatric Patients

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Pediatric Neurosurgery for Clinicians

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Abstract

The pineal region or posterior incisural space is a deep intracranial space represented by the quadrigeminal cistern and the neurovascular structures inside it. Pineal region tumors represent a broad spectrum arising from the pineal gland and surrounding structures. Despite ethnic variations, pineal region tumors include germ cell tumors, pineal parenchymal tumors, and gliomas in most cases. Pediatric patients harbor particular clinical features different from adult patients. Pediatric pineal region tumors correspond to 2.5% to 8.5% of the intracranial tumors, with higher incidences in Asian countries. In the pediatric population, germ cell tumors are the most common tumors, followed by pineal parenchymal tumors. Thus, blood and cerebrospinal tumor markers may represent essential tools for the patient prognosis, treatment response, and disease monitoring. Here, we aim to present and discuss the relevant literature concerning the clinical, pathological, treatment modalities, and long-term evaluation of pineal region tumors in pediatric patients.

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Abbreviations

AFP:

alpha-fetoprotein

CSF:

cerebrospinal fluid

CT:

computed tomography

GCT:

germ cell tumors

hCG:

human chorionic gonadotrophin

ICP:

intracranial pressure

LH:

luteinizing hormone

MRI:

magnetic resonance imaging

NGGCT:

non-germinomatous germ cell tumors

PLAP:

placental alkaline phosphatase

PPT:

pineal parenchymal tumor

PPTID:

pineal parenchymal tumor of intermediate differentiation

PTPR:

papillary tumor of the pineal region

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Joham Choque-Velasquez

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Umberto I General Hospital, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy

    Roberto Colasanti

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Padua University Hospital, Padova, Italy

    Roberto Colasanti

  4. Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Dana Children’s Hospital, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Danil A. Kozyrev

  5. Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland

    Szymon Baluszek

  6. Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Sajjad Muhammad

  7. Department of Neurosurgery, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, China

    Juha Hernesniemi

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  1. Joham Choque-Velasquez
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  2. Roberto Colasanti
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  3. Danil A. Kozyrev
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  4. Szymon Baluszek
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  5. Sajjad Muhammad
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  6. Juha Hernesniemi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neurosurgery, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

    Georgios Alexiou

  2. Neurosurgery, “Mitera’’ Children’s Hospital, Marousi, Greece

    Neofytos Prodromou

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Choque-Velasquez, J., Colasanti, R., Kozyrev, D.A., Baluszek, S., Muhammad, S., Hernesniemi, J. (2022). Pineal Region Tumors in Pediatric Patients. In: Alexiou, G., Prodromou, N. (eds) Pediatric Neurosurgery for Clinicians. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80522-7_23

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