Pediatric intracranial hemangioendotheliomas: case report.
OBJECTIVE
Intracranial hemangioendotheliomas are rare lesions, especially in the pediatric age group. Recognizing hemangioendotheliomas as a differential in intracranial tumors of vascular origin is important; complete excision results in a cure, and medical therapy for those lesions that are not resectable produces long-term survival.


METHODS
We report two patients, a 7-year-old female patient with a lesion in the right gasserian ganglion and a 3-month-old male patient with a cervicomedullary junction tumor.


METHODS
The 7-year-old underwent a gross total removal with no recurrence. The 3-month-old underwent a partial resection followed by treatment with interferon alpha-2a, with a decrease in the size of the residual tumor. Both patients have been followed for more than 4 years without a recurrence or progression of the tumor.


CONCLUSIONS
Hemangioendotheliomas are fairly indolent tumors and may be treated with complete surgical resection, resulting in a cure. In cases in which complete tumor removal is not possible, adjunctive therapy with interferon alpha-2a may control residual tumor growth.
Chen
T C
TC
Division of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, California, USA.
Gonzalez-Gomez
I
I
Gilles
F H
FH
McComb
J G
JG
D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D003390:Cranial Nerve Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006390:Hemangioendothelioma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012668:Trigeminal Ganglion / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery