Post-Traumatic Malignant Glioma in a Pregnant Woman: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

To add a further contribution to the literature supporting the relationship between previous head trauma and the development of glioma. We present the first case of pregnancy-related post-traumatic malignant glioma in a 29-year-old female who was admitted because of left sided hemiplegia and epilepsy due to a malignant glial tumor. She had been operated for a right frontal hematoma caused by a motorbike accident 9 years before. Neuroimaging showed a large neoplasia in the right frontal region beneath the material used for cranialplasty, and postoperative pathological revealed a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in continuity with the scar resulting from the trauma. While epidemiologic studies may not be conclusive, a pathologic basis has been suggested which show that trauma act as a cocarcinogen in the presence of an initiating carcinogen. Our case fulfilled the widely established criteria for brain tumors of traumatic origin. We believe that in specific cases it is reasonable to acknowledge an etiological association between head trauma and glioma. And additional factors such as pregnancy may promote the manifestation of the clinical symptoms.