Surgical tumor removals today are increasingly precise, increasingly tend towards total removal of the neoplasm and allow for “greater time free from recurrence” which unfortunately, for malignant gliomas, are currently a certainty
“Brain tumors. Gliomas – what future?”. On Saturday 27 April in ASL Taranto we will talk about brain tumors, trying to take stock, in particular, of gliomas and the state of the current surgical phase.
The conference, which takes place in the main hall of the Polo Jonico university in via Duomo, open to doctors, pharmacists and healthcare professionals, is led by Doctor Giovanni Costella, scientific director of the training event as well as director of the neurosurgery structure of Santissima Annunziata of Taranto. Among the speakers, Professor Giuseppe Barbagallo, professor of the Neurosurgical Clinic at the University of Catania.
“A challenge for the future because neuroscience needs to make important steps forward. Excellent results have been achieved in surgery, which has become more precise, minimally invasive and, where possible, maximal, but it is necessary to do even more compared to previous decades”, declares Costella. The aim of the conference is therefore to take stock of cerebral gliomas, a pathology which in 70% of cases is malignant, burdened by rapid progression and a limited survival time of the people in whom it is diagnosed. “Compared to the past, today in neurosurgery we remove the tumor lesion without causing brain damage to the patient, preserving their quality of life after surgery; years ago, it was methodical to surgically remove portions of brain matter beyond the tumor lesion, with negative consequences on the quality of subsequent life”, explains the director of neurosurgery in Ionica. Today neurosurgery has a wide range of instruments that allow, among other things, monitoring, “neuronavigation” and intra-operative resonance imaging, so as to increase the resection margin of the glioma. Recently introduced fluorescent markers allow the site of the tumor to be highlighted in a different and precise way. The new surgical methods allow access to the so-called “noble areas” of the brain that past surgery did not allow touching without causing damage. Surgical tumor removals today are increasingly precise, increasingly tend towards total removal of the neoplasm and allow for “greater time free from recurrence” which unfortunately, for malignant gliomas, are currently a certainty.
The themes of the conference, which continues with various panels and illustrious speakers until the afternoon, ideally embrace the entire patient journey, from taking care of the patient to the diagnosis, the psychological approach and the dialogue with the family, the classification, the anesthetic technique to be used during surgery, surgery, rehabilitation and the subsequent oncological therapeutic approach.
“Neurosurgery is a flagship of Ionian healthcare – declares the general director of ASL Taranto Vito Gregorio Colacicco – and scientific events like this underline its work also in the field of scientific research that crosses regional borders. The Apulian community can count on the excellence of our territory without having to resort to journeys of hope, which add inconvenience and fear to those already affected by this serious pathology.”
At the Neurosurgery facility directed by Dr. Costella, resection operations for cerebral gliomas are routinely performed, with the use of the exoscope, an instrument of high surgical precision compared to the classic microscope. In Italy there are only 18, the Santissima Annunziata boasts the distinction of being the only garrison to have them in Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria. Our country is first in Europe for use of the exoscope; followed by France and Spain.
