[Brain tumors and pregnancy]

Abstract

Background: Despite not being a common fact, the occurrence of brain tumors during pregnancy poses a risk to both the mother and infant.

Aim: To identify the best medical procedure to be followed for a pregnant patient harboring a brain tumor.

Method: The records of 6 patients with brain tumors, diagnosed during pregnancy were examined.

Results: Several types of brain tumors have been associated with pregnancy, but the meningioma is, by far, the most frequent. It seems that pregnancy aggravates the clinical course of intracranial tumors. There were no operative mortality in these series. In 2 patients the labor occurred before the craniotomy and in others, the delivery occurred after the surgery.

Conclusion: The best moment to recommend the craniotomy and the neurosurgical removal of the tumor will depend of the mothers neurological condition, the tumor histological type as well as the gestational age.