1. Ependymomas are Brain Tumors
Ependymomas are brain tumors that come from ependymal cells in your child's central nervous system. They are classified into four different types, based on the tissue's appearance. Brain tumors are a mass of abnormal cells in the brain. This can affect your child's ability to speak, walk, eat, see and other normal functions. If the mass grows large enough, it can enlarge your child's brain putting pressure on the skull.
2. Cause of Brain Tumors
Researchers don't know what causes Ependymoma in children, but they know the abnormal cells come from a series of abnormal events in transformation. They are researching what exact order these events happen to develop a process to intervene and stop the abnormal mutations.
3. Find my Child's Ependymoma
The Ependymoma tumor blocks the normal flow of your child's spinal fluid, which causes pressure on their brain and enlarges the skull. Watch for headaches, nausea and vomiting, reduced energy, problems with feeding or walking and double vision. Your child may also lose her balance often. Consult your doctor if you see signs of these symptoms. Your doctor will perform a physical exam looking for reflexes and other neurological functions and order an MRI or at CT scan to look for the tumor in the brain. In surgery, your doctor takes a sample from the tumor and removes all or part of the tumor. Sometimes a spinal tap to remove spinal fluid helps to determine how far the cancer cells have spread.
4. Get Treatment
Doctors use surgery as the most common practice in the treatment of your child's Ependymoma brain tumor. The doctors remove as much of the brain tumor as they can without causing damage to brain function. An additional option for the doctors is to place a shunt or plastic tubing in the abdomen to drain any excess cerebral spinal fluid because the tumor blocks the normal flow of fluid. This helps to relieve symptoms. Doctors perform radiation therapy to kill brain tumor cells in an exact targeted place. They use chemotherapy to give treatment to the whole body. Researchers are discovering new effective medicines.
5. Prevent Future Ependymoma Brain Tumors
Get frequent follow-up checkups to detect recurrence of the Ependymoma brain tumor. Your doctor might also recommend rehabilitation treatments, such as speech or physical therapy. Consult a support group for information on how to deal with your child's Ependymoma brain tumor.
