2017 Volume 37 Issue 7 Pages 731-734
Brain tumors accompanying pregnancies are extremely rare. We report the case of a 33-year-old woman who experienced spasms 2 hours after cesarean section that resulted in an initial diagnosis of a brain tumor.
The patient complained of headaches and nausea during the course of her pregnancy, and was suspected to have hyperemesis gravidarum. As the patient had a previous cesarean section, the present delivery was also performed through cesarean section under combined spinal-epidural anesthesia. Two hours after surgery, the patient experienced loss of consciousness with clonic spasms；a computed tomography scan revealed a pineal tumor. Tissue diagnosis indicated a germ cell tumor.
Although headaches and nausea during the later stages of pregnancy are frequently indicative of hyperemesis gravidarum, it is necessary to also consider the possibility that these are signs of rare organic intracranial diseases such as cerebral hemorrhage and brain tumors.
