title: Retropharyngeal neuroblastoma in an infant: management without surgery.
abstract: Retropharyngeal neuroblastoma is rare. We report a 3-month-old infant with retropharyngeal neuroblastoma presenting with airway compression, which had an unresectable localized tumor without N-myc amplification. He was promptly treated with chemotherapy, resulting in a dramatic resolution. Subsequently, he received no surgical intervention and is well without evidence of recurrence 10 months after completion of chemotherapy. A review of the literature reveals that retropharyngeal neuroblastoma in infants has a good prognosis, but with some risk of surgical complication. Thus, it might be better to treat unresectable, localized disease accompanied by life-threatening symptoms with chemotherapy alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Risa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matsumura
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Shigenori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kusuki
authors.forename: Hisao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Emiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hashii
authors.forename: Shuichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uehara
authors.forename: Takaharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oue
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuzawa
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ozono
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016259:Genes, myc / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D017703:Retropharyngeal Abscess / Q000473:pathology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome