Omair Afzal, Zahra Safdar, Javeria Khan, Fouzia Rahat, Khalid Mahmood.
Frequency and Progression of Gliomas in Pregnancy in Population Presenting at Lahore General Hospital, Pakistan.
Pak J Neuro Surg Jan ;25(4):587-94.

Objective: To study the frequency and progression of gliomas in pregnant patients in our population. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 30 pregnant patients between 18 to 40 years of age with confirmed gliomas from July 2015 to July 2020 was conducted at the Department of Neurosurgery, Punjab Institute of Neurosciences, Lahore. Time of diagnosis, grade of glioma, the outcome of pregnancy, and mode of treatment were studied in these patients. Results: Out of 30 patients, 29 were freshly diagnosed during pregnancy. All patients underwent cesarean section. If the patient presented before 30 weeks of pregnancy, irrespective of the outcome of the baby, the caesarian section was done. If a patient presented after 7 months, in case of low-grade glioma, the patient was in-house transferred and operated for tumor after delivery. A total of 17 patients had low-grade glioma and 12 patients had high-grade glioma. One patient had a recurrent disease during pregnancy, with the progression of tumor from low grade to high grade. Conclusion: There is an association between pregnancy and the incidence of gliomas. They can be both high or low grades. The mode of delivery is preferably the caesarian section because the stress of labor causes an increase in the frequency of seizures. There is the possibility of recurrence as well as progression to higher grade during pregnancy.

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