title: [Ganglioglioma of the medulla oblongata: case report and review of the literature].
abstract: The authors present a pediatric case of ganglioglioma occurring in the medulla oblongata. A 7-year-old boy was referred to our hospital with complaints of ataxia, seizure and sleep apnea. MRI of the brain disclosed a large tumor occupying the medulla oblongata, and the upper portion of the cervical spinal cord was also involved. The patient underwent midline suboccipital craniotomy and laminectomy of C1 to attempt radical resection of the tumor, which resulted only in partial removal of the tumor due to severe bradycardia during the operation. The histological diagnosis was ganglioglioma, WHO grade 2. Although both radiotherapy and chemotherapy were performed following the operation, the tumor remained unchanged. The patient died of respiratory arrest five months after the operation. Gangliogliomas usually occur in the supratentorial region, which permits easy surgical access and good prognosis. Only 3% of gangliogliomas occur in the brain stem, and its management can be challenging because of the difficulty of radical resection and poor response to both radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Hyogo Prefectural Kobe Children's Hospital, 1-1-1, Takakuradai, Suma-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo 654-0081, Japan. akiyama_kch@hp.pref.hyogo.jp
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamizo
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagashima
authors.forename: Daiichirou
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kosaka
authors.forename: Makiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D018303:Ganglioglioma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata