Oligodendroglioma:: a pathological and clinical study of 15 cases

Oligodendrogliomas account for 4-5% of primary central nervous system tumours with a slow and infiltrative growth. We report the clinical and pathological findings of 15 cases of oligodendrogliomas. Eight patients were males and 7 were females. The ages ranged between 17 and 66 years, with a mean of 39.73 years. The symptoms reflected the growth and topography of the rumours; migraine (60%) and seizures (60%) were the most frequent symptoms. Frontal (n=6), parietal (n=2), temporal (n=1) and occipital (n=1) lobes were affected. Five patients undergone total resection of the tumor and 10 were submitted to partial resection, from which 3 received adjuvant radiotherapy, 1 adjuvant chemotherapy and 1 chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The overall recurrence rate was 60% for a 32 month follow up. Five recurrences were observed in patients submitted only to the surgical treatment and 4 in which adjuvant radio or chemotherapy were performed. These results are similar with the literature and may contribute to further understanding the biological behavior of these rare tumours.