Intracranial tumours in childhood.
420 paediatric intracranial tumour cases were admitted from an area with a 2 million population in 20 years. The incidence of various groups in Melbourne is compared to similar series in Boston, Vienna, and Tokyo. The author believes that there is a remarkable uniformity in their distribution. The greater number of ependymomas in Melbourne can be due to different pathological interpretations. The higher rate of optic gliomas can be related to a higher frequency of neurofibromatosis. Myodil ventriculography followed by immediate surgery without disturbance of the child's position on the author's neurosurgical wheel reduces post-operative morbidity and mortality. The author uses the anterior approach to choroidal papillomas, contralateral approach to trigone tumours and occasionally posterior fossa osteoplastic flaps. Over the years, operative mortality has decreased to less than 5% but the overall survival rate has not greatly changed, which is possibly due to the excessive 'growth potential' of children.
D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D001315:Australia; D001317:Austria; D001900:Boston; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D001933:Brain Stem; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004806:Ependymoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D005910:Glioma / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D008579:Meningioma / Q000453:epidemiology; D009900:Optic Nerve; D010871:Pinealoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D014041:Tokyo