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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Cat survival and symptoms after brain tumor removal surgery

By Cameron, Starr et al.·Published in Veterinary surgery : VS·2015·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Characteristics and Survival of 121 Cats Undergoing Excision of Intracranial Meningiomas (1994-2011).

Species:
cat
Brain & nervesCats

Plain-English summary

A group of 121 cats with brain tumors called meningiomas underwent surgery to remove these growths. Common symptoms noticed by their owners included changes in behavior, trouble walking, seizures, and vision problems. After surgery, most cats had a good chance of recovery, with a median survival time of about 3 years. While some cats did not survive the immediate period after surgery, many lived for months or years afterward, showing that surgery can be a viable option for treating this condition.

People also search for: cat brain tumor symptoms · cat seizure treatment · cat surgery recovery time · meningioma in cats · cat behavior changes after surgery

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To report clinical features and outcomes of cats undergoing excision of intracranial meningiomas. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, multicenter case series. SAMPLE POPULATION: One hundred and twenty-one cats. METHODS: Signalment, clinical signs, duration of clinical signs, preoperative drug therapy, diagnostic imaging reports, surgery, histopathology, and outcome were collected from records of cats undergoing excision of intracranial meningiomas. Survival estimates were made using Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: There were 76/121 neutered males and 83/121 domestic short-hairs. Body weight ranged from 1.5-8.7&#x2009;kg (median 5.0&#x2009;kg). Age at diagnosis ranged from 3-18 years (median 12 years). Clinical signs included changes in behavior, ataxia, seizures, visual deficits, circling, and paresis. Duration of neurologic signs ranged from <1-23 months (median 1.25 months). At the time of writing, 13 cats were alive, 54 were dead or euthanatized, and 54 were lost to followup. Seven cats (13% of cats that died; 6% of all cats) died or were euthanatized in the immediate postoperative period (<1 month post-surgery) and 9 cats (17% of all cats that died; 7% of all cats) died from causes related to the meningioma but outside the immediate perioperative period. The median survival time for all cats was 37 months (95% confidence interval 28-54 months). CONCLUSION: Cats undergoing excision of intracranial meningiomas had a low perioperative mortality and a long-term prognosis of more than 3 years.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26032173/