Meningiomas: Quality of life before and after surgery

摘要

Evaluation of the quality of life before and after the development at three, six and twelve months intervals from meningioma resection was considered. A prospective study was carried out with 29 patients carrying benign meningioma, whose ages ranged from 28 to 76 years old. In order to evaluate the quality of life, two instruments were used: the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and the Innsbruck Health Dimensions Questionnaire for Neurosurgical Patients (IHD-NS). Meaningful differences were found between the NHP and the IHD-NS total score, when comparing the evaluations before and after intervention. A significant improvement in pain, emotional reaction, physical ability, sleepiness, communication, physical condition, independence and the psychological condition domains was noticed. It was possible to observe that patients who had meningiomas in the left hemisphere have shown higher symptomatology, but those were also the ones who have shown significant reduction of the symptoms after the surgical intervention. Patients who undertook surgical intervention for the meningioma resection presented a significant improvement in their quality of life. A meaningful improvement took place up to the first three months. There was then a tendency to stabilize between three to six months (because of a rise in the Emotional Reactions Domain) and thereafter there was a reduction in new symptom taking place up to twelve months from intervention. Taking this study into to consideration it seems beneficial to recommend psychotherapy intervention after three months from surgery.