Ependymoma: an epidemiological perspective from a low- and middle-income country Authors Muhammad Usman Khalid The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi,Pakistan Mashal Murad Shah The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi,Pakistan Mohammad Hamza Bajwa The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi,Pakistan Karim Rizwan Nathani Mayo Clinic,Rochester, USA. Altaf Ali Laghari Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan Muhammad Faraz Raghib The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi,Pakistan Saad bin Anis Shaukat Khanum Cancer Memorial Hospital, Lahore. Naveed Zaman Akhunzada Rehman Medical Institute, Hayatabad, Peshawar,Pakistan Sameen Siddiqi The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi,Pakistan Syed Ather Enam The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi,Pakistan DOI: https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.11-S4-AKUB07 Abstract Objective: To enumerate the burden of ependymoma in our region and identify the demographic, tumoural, surgical, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of patients diagnosed with ependymoma. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included patients admitted under neurosurgical service between January 1 and December 31, 2019. The inclusion criterion for the study was a histopathological diagnosis of the brain lesion. The experience of the ependymal brain tumours observed at the 32 participating sites in Pakistan is presented. Results: A total of 2750 patients with brain tumours were seen in 2019 at our centres of whom 58(2.1%) had a histopathological diagnosis of ependymoma. The median age at diagnosis was nine (IQR= 4.5-24.5) years. The median time to surgery from date of radiological diagnosis was 38.5 (IQR= 4-93.8) days. The median KPS score at presentation was 70 (IQR= 60-80), and post-surgery was 90 (IQR= 70-100), showing an average increase of 20. Our population's overall mortality rate for ependymoma was 31.1%, with the 30-day mortality rate being 2.2% (lower than the 4.5% on average for all brain tumours in our cohort). Conclusion: Ependymomas were predominantly found in the paediatric population in the presented cohort. While gender distribution and histopathological grading seemed to follow international trends, this study had a much higher mortality rate and a much lower gross total resection rate than centres in high-income countries. Keywords: Ependymoma, Brain neoplasm, Retrospective study, Epidemiology, LMIC. Continue... Downloads Full Text Article Published 2022-12-15 How to Cite Muhammad Usman Khalid, Mashal Murad Shah, Mohammad Hamza Bajwa, Karim Rizwan Nathani, Altaf Ali Laghari , Muhammad Faraz Raghib , Saad bin Anis, Naveed Zaman Akhunzada, Sameen Siddiqi , & Syed Ather Enam. (2022). Ependymoma: an epidemiological perspective from a low- and middle-income country. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 72(11), S46-S50. https://doi.org/10.47391/JPMA.11-S4-AKUB07 More Citation Formats ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver Download Citation Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX Issue Vol. 72 No. 11 (2022): Pakistan Brain Tumour Epidemiology Study (PBTES) Section Research Article