Development of a Concise QOL Questionnaire for Brain Tumor Patients

Goffaux, Philippe; Boudrias, Marie; Mathieu, David; Charpentier, Catherine; Veilleux, Nadia; Fortin, David

doi:10.1017/s0317167100007095

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Ever since the publication of important functional studies such as the brain maps acquired by Ojemann et al in 117 epilepsy patients and showing a great variability in the speech localization, a greater emphasis has been placed on the study of the function, thereby realizing that reliance on topographical anatomy alone is inadequate 54 . Moreover, studies in neuro-oncology are now included as an integral facet of the evaluation of patients quality of life data as well as neuro-cognitive evaluations, leaning toward a more inclusive and integrated view of the patient as an individualwhole [55][56][57] . The concept of brain functioning now involves a dynamic organization of networks connecting several cortical and subcortical areas of the brain 1,58 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tractography in the Study of the Human Brain: A Neurosurgical Perspective

Fortin¹,

Aubin-Lemay²,

Boré

et al. 2012

Can. J. Neurol. Sci.

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in this discipline has been limited due to an incomplete knowledge of the functional anatomy of the brain. This highly integrated organ does not lend itself easily to study, as its morphology does not translate to its function 1 . This caveat was quickly acknowledged by the early neuro-anatomists such as Brodmann, who stated in 1909: "One thing must be stressed quite firmly: henceforth functional localization of the cerebral cortex without the lead of anatomy is utterly impossible in man as in animals… so, first anatomy, and then physiology; but if first physiology, then not without anatomy" 2 . Furthermore, there is now mounting evidence that the brain has the capacity to reorganize its functional networks in the face of an injury, or a ABSTRACT: Background: The brain functions as an integrated multi-networked organ. Complex neurocognitive functions are not attributed to a single brain area but depend on the dynamic interactions of distributed brain areas operating in large-scale networks. This is especially important in the field of neurosurgery where intervention within a spatially localized area may indirectly lead to unwanted effects on distant areas. As part of a preliminary integrated work on functional connectivity, we present our initial work on diffusion tensor imaging tractography to produce in vivo white matter tracts dissection. Methods: Diffusion weighted data and high-resolution T1-weighted images were acquired from a healthy right-handed volunteer (25 years old) on a whole-body 3 T scanner. Two approaches were used to dissect the tractography results: 1) a standard region of interest technique and 2) the use of Brodmann's area as seeding points, which represents an innovation in terms of seeds initiation. Results: Results are presented as tri-dimensional tractography images. The uncinate fasciculus, the inferior longitudinal fasciculus, the inferior fronto-occipital fasiculus, the corticospinal tract, the corpus callosum, the cingulum, and the optic radiations where studied by conventional seeding approach, while Broca's and Wernicke's areas, the primary motor as well as the primary visual cortices were used as seeding areas in the second approach. Conclusions: We report state-of-the-art tractography results of some of the major white matter bundles in a normal subject using DTI. Moreover, we used Brodmann's area as seeding areas for fiber tracts to study the connectivity of known major functional cortical areas.RÉSUMÉ: La tractographie dans l'étude du cerveau humain : perspective neurochirurgicale. Contexte : Le cerveau fonctionne comme un organe constitué en multiréseaux intégrés et les fonctions neurocognitives complexes ne sont pas restreintes à une seule zone du cerveau. Elles dépendent d'interactions dynamiques de différentes régions du cerveau opérant en réseaux de grande envergure. Ceci est particulièrement important dans le domaine de la neurochirurgie où une intervention à l'intérieur d'une zone très localisée peut provoquer indirectement des effets indésirables à distance. Nous présent...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tractography in the Study of the Human Brain: A Neurosurgical Perspective

Fortin¹,

Aubin-Lemay²,

Boré

et al. 2012

Can. J. Neurol. Sci.

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“…47 Furthermore, pain is rated as an important quality of life concern for neuro-oncology patients, as evidenced by recent studies on patient well-being. [48][49][50][51][52] Together these findings advocate for expending greater efforts in the battle against postcraniotomy pain. Interestingly, a study conducted by Stoneham and Walters 53 revealed that opiophobia among neuroanesthetists constitutes a continuing barrier to the ultimate resolution of postoperative pain.…”

Section: Distinguishing Surgical From Brain Tumor Headachesmentioning

confidence: 86%

Brain Tumor Headaches

Goffaux

Fortin

2010

Neurosurgery

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Although most people who have headache pain do not present with an underlying mass lesion, a large number of patients with brain tumors do report headache (as many as 60% in our institution). The problem for clinicians is that the tumor-headache association is not universal, as evidenced by anecdotal reports of patients with large tumors and increased intracranial pressure, but a complete absence of headache pain. In this review, we examine more than 80 years of research on brain tumor headaches, delineating the link between tumor location, laterality, growth rate, and pain. Most importantly, we position our review within the context of current etiological theories and propose new models involving the peripheral and central sensitization of nociresponsive neurons. This review will help clinicians understand why debulking surgery sometimes fails to alleviate neoplastic headache pain in select patients. A brief examination of headaches as a result of surgery and adjuvant chemoradiation therapy is also provided. Headaches can be an early indicator of central nervous system tumors. However, headaches are present in a wide variety of other condition, and are sometimes (surprisingly) absent in patients with primary neoplasms or metastatic tumors. This observation complicates the possibility of linking headaches to brain tumors. Nevertheless, some generalizations concerning brain tumor headaches can be drawn. The following sections review these generalizations, presenting caveats where appropriate. Lingering questions in the field are also addressed and presented together with promising future research avenues.

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“…To assess QOL, patients filled out the Sherbrooke NeuroOncology Assessment Scale (SNAS), a recently developed and validated QOL questionnaire that assess both core and disease-specific issues relevant to neuro-oncology patients 14 . The SNAS is a 30 item questionnaire composed of seven multi-item scales: (1) functional wellbeing, (2) symptom severity/fear of death, (3) social support/acceptance of disease, (4) autonomy in personal care, (5) digestive symptomatology, (6) neurocognitive function, and (7) pain.…”

Section: Quality Of Life Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%