Cerebellar gliomas in infants: specificity, pathology, and outcome.
Cerebellar gliomas (CGs) in children are generally associated with a favorable outcome; however, data regarding these tumors in very young children are scarce. We report on our experience with CGs in children less than 3 years old at surgery, compared with a second group older than 3 years. From 1991 to 1996, we operated on 7 children with CGs in the first group and 43 in the second. Psychomotor delay and regression were the first symptoms in 3 cases, and 3 had macrocrania. The tumor was totally removed in all cases. One child died intraoperatively of air embolism and subdural bleeding. Three had malignant tumors (grade 3 or 4). There was no operative mortality or malignancy in the second group of patients. With a mean follow-up of 33 months, all survivors in the first group are disease-free, with no or minimal symptoms, and attend normal schools. The clinical, surgical, and pathological features suggest that children under 3 years of age represent a specific subgroup of CGs.
Vinchon
M
M
Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, CHRU de Lille, France. m-vinchon@chru-lille.fr
Ruchoux
M M
MM
Soto-Ares
G
G
Nicolas
R
R
Dhellemmes
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005910:Glioma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome