Nursing care of the child with a brain stem glioma.

The nursing care of the child with a brain stem tumor focuses on supporting the family and the child's adaptation to the physical and emotional problems of an illness with a variable and often fatal course. With the advent of magnetic resonance imaging and stereotaxic biopsy, a more accurate assessment of tumor type, location, and size can be made. Advances in surgery, radiotherapy, and multidrug chemotherapy have affected the course of brain stem tumors even though outcome may remain the same.