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. 2020 Oct 24;11(10):809–835. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i10.809

Table 10.

Causes of cancer-related seizure and cancer-related acute hydrocephalus[158]

Causes Comments
Cancer-related seizure
Low-grade tumors Glioma and oligodendroglioma have intrinsic epileptogenic activity as a result of their long survival and reduced seizure threshold
High-grade tumors Usually secondary to necrosis, hemorrhage or edema
Brain metastases Up to 40%
Tumor location Cortical tumors and those on epileptogenic areas (e.g., mesial temporal lobe and insula) are associated with intractable epilepsy
Stroke Ischemic or hemorrhagic
Drug toxicity Cytarabine, methotrexate, cisplatin, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, anthracyclines
Neoplastic meningitis
Paraneoplastic encephalitis
Central nervous system infections
Electrolytic imbalance Hyponatremia, hypocalcaemia
Metabolic disorders Hypoglycemia
Liver or kidney failure
Aggravated preexisting epilepsy Withdrawal medication
Cancer-related acute hydrocephalus
Stopped CSF flow by tumor obstruction of ventricular system Colloid cysts, ependymoma, intraventricular meningioma, choroid plexus papilloma or posterior fossa tumor; in adults it is often due to leptomeningeal carcinomatosis and intra-ventricular extension of metastasis
Increased CSF content due to deficit in reabsorption Venous sinus thrombosis, infectious meningitis, metastatic seeding or subarachnoid hemorrhage

CSF: Cerebrospinal fluid.