Benign cerebellar astrocytoma

OBJECTIVE: The characteristics of 451 Egyptian children (aged 0-14 years) with primary intracranial neoplasms were investigated for demographic, clinical, topographical and pathological features using the most recent 2007 Classification of Central Nervous System Tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study performed in the Departments of Pediatric Neurosurgery of the Cairo University Hospitals from 2005 to 2008. RESULTS: There was a slight male predominance (51...

We present the case of an 8-year-old girl with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and a short history suggestive of raised intracranial pressure. Urgent computed tomography scan of the head showed a large bleed into a left cerebellar lesion. She underwent treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and steroids to increase her platelet count, followed by excision of the lesion, which was found to be a benign pilocytic astrocytoma. The patient made a complete recovery and shortly afterwards underwent splenectomy, following which there was complete resolution of her thrombocytopenia...

Cerebellar pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) are benign gliomas predominantly found in the pediatric population. Intracranial hemorrhages are extremely rare in initial presentations of cerebellar PAs. There are no reports in the medical literature of adult cerebellar PA cases presenting with intratumoral hemorrhage. We report 2 cases of adult cerebellar pilocytic astrocytomas with intratumoral hemorrhage. The first case is a 37-year-old woman presenting with severe headache, nausea, and vomitting. Computed tomography demonstrated an acute hemorrhage adjacent to the right cerebellar hemisphere and hydrocephalus...

BACKGROUND: The long-term prognosis of cerebellar astrocytomas needs to be reviewed. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the factors influencing tumor recurrence or progression and to determine how long these patient with cerebellar astrocytomas require surveillance with neuroimaging. METHODS: A retrospective review of 101 children surgically treated for a cerebellar astrocytoma and followed up for > 10 years was performed. RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18...

A 26-year-old male presented with a rare cerebellar pilocytic astrocytoma with multicompartmental subarachnoid metastases. Cerebrospinal fluid dissemination of low grade astrocytoma at presentation is rare in adults. In the present patient, clinical and neuroradiological follow-up at 4 years, without adjuvant treatment, revealed non progression of tumors. The occurrence of benign dormancy, low grade tumor histology and multifocal involvement of the neuraxis is rare. Close clinical observation is the best approach for management of such a patient...

A 1-year-old female infant presented with congenital giant, hairy and pigmented nevi. MRI scan as screening test revealed a cerebellar tumor. A diagnosis of provisional neurocutaneous melanosis was made on the basis of the patient's MRI and physical findings. At her 6 years of age, MRI revealed the tumor grown up to 3 cm diameter in 5 years. The cerebellar tumor was removed partially using the occipital transtentorial approach for tissue diagnosis. The color of the cerebellar tumor was whitish and contained neither benign nor malignant melanocyte...

A 23-year-old man was admitted with a rare case of radiation-induced astrocytoma manifesting as 3-month history of unstable gait. He had received 50 Gy of irradiation therapy for a germ cell tumor in the right basal ganglia 13 years earlier. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging on admission showed a non-enhanced mass lesion in the right cerebellar hemisphere with expansion to the vermis. The histological diagnosis of the stereotaxic biopsy specimen was grade II astrocytoma. Two months later, he developed drowsiness, and MR imaging demonstrated that the tumor had enlarged and was enhanced after gadolinium injection...

Pilocytic astrocytoma sometimes transforms to a malignant type, and previous radiation therapy is considered to be a key factor. We report a case of pilocytic astrocytoma with histological malignant features without previous radiation therapy. A 21-year-old man presented a sudden onset of severe headache. Neuroimaging had detected a cystic mass in the posterior fossa at the age of one year without therapeutic intervention. On admission, computed tomography depicted a brain tumor in the posterior fossa with cystic components, intratumoral hemorrhage, and upward herniation...

AIM: Cerebellar astrocytomas are benign tumors of the central nervous system. They represent 10% of all pediatric intracranial brain tumors and 30% of all pediatric posterior fossa tumors especially in the first two decades of life. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of patients; age at the time of surgery, pre- and post operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), localisation of the tumor, hydrocephalus, surgical approach, pre- and post operative neurological status, post operative adjuvant therapy and outcome were documented...

A constellation of deficits, termed the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS), has been reported following acquired cerebellar lesions. We studied emotion identification and the cognitive control of emotion in children treated for acquired tumors of the cerebellum. Participants were 37 children (7-16 years) treated for cerebellar tumors (19 benign astrocytomas (AST), 18 malignant medulloblastomas (MB), and 37 matched controls (CON). The Emotion Identification Task investigated recognition of happy and sad emotions in music...

Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is a slow-growing, well-circumscribed grade I glioma generally considered benign, with a low recurrence rate and an excellent prognosis following complete surgical resection. PA is the most common central nervous system glioma in the pediatric population and is rare in adults. We report a 26-year-old male with an intradural extramedullary PA at the thoracolumbar junction following subtotal cerebellar PA resection 18 years previously. Fifteen months after spinal PA resection, the patient is doing well, has regained the ability to stand independently, and has no evidence of any new or enlarging lesions...

BACKGROUND: Tumours of the posterior fossa associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) are very infrequent. Series studying this association are seldom reported. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: In a series of 600 NF1 patients studied during 39 years (1965-2004) only five (0.83%) had posterior fossa tumours. They were studied clinically, radiologically by computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) and histologically. Four of them had astrocytomas but only in one case was the tumour primarily cerebellar while the tumour was primarily of the brain stem with invasion of the adjacent regions of one or both cerebellar hemispheres in three patients...

Lipoastrocytoma is an extremely rare tumor, with only six cases described. We report the case of an astrocytoma involving the upper part of the cerebellar-pontine angle and the right portion of the clivus starting from the brainstem with a diffuse lipomatous component in a 39 year-old man. The patient was admitted with headache of 1 year's duration and diplopia over the previous 3 months. MRI revealed a ponto-cerebellar lesion that showed irregular enhancement after contrast administration. Subtotal excision of the tumor was accomplished...

Patients with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) have an increased risk of developing neoplasms. The most common brain tumors, found in 15%-20% of NF1 patients, are hypothalamic-optic gliomas, followed by brainstem and cerebellar pilocytic astrocytomas. These tumors generally have a benign nature. NF1 patients are predisposed to a 5-fold increased incidence of high-grade astrocytomas, which are usually located in supratentorial regions of the brain. We present an NF1 patient who developed a high-grade astrocytoma in the posterior fossa and discuss possible pathophysiological mechanisms...

In 1991, Biedermann coined the term "kinetic imbalance due to suboccipital strain" ("KiSS-syndrome"). He assumed a functional abnormality of the suboccipital-high cervical spine, resulting in positional preference of the infant;s head. A broad spectrum of symptoms and complaints have been attributed to "KiSS-Syndrome". Patients are advised to undergo manual therapy, with pressure applied locally in order to readjust the cervical spine. Life threatening side-effects have been published repeatedly...

Desmoplastic infantile astrocytoma (DIA) and desmoplastic infantile ganglioglioma (DIG) are rare intracranial tumors that mostly occur in the first 2 years of life and involve superficial cerebral cortex. Despite the large size of these lesions and some worrisome histological and radiological features, prognosis is generally favorable after gross total resection. We report an original observation of a desmoplastic infantile astrocytoma in a 5-year-old boy with multiple localizations on initial presentation, including the unusual subtentorial region...

PURPOSE: To present the effect of radiotherapy doses to different volumes of normal structures on neurocognitive outcomes in young patients with benign and low-grade brain tumors treated prospectively with stereotactic conformal radiotherapy (SCRT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Twenty-eight patients (median age, 13 years) with residual/progressive brain tumors (10 craniopharyngioma, 8 cerebellar astrocytoma, 6 optic pathway glioma and 4 cerebral low-grade glioma) were treated with SCRT to a dose of 54 Gy in 30 fractions over 6 weeks...

Pilocytic astrocytomas are WHO grade I gliomas that occur predominantly in childhood. They share features of both astroglial and oligodendroglial lineages. These tumours affect preferentially the cerebellum (benign clinical course) and the optic pathway, especially the hypothalamo-chiasmatic region (poor prognosis). Understanding the molecular basis responsible for the aggressive behaviour of hypothalamo-chiasmatic pilocytic astrocytomas is a prerequisite to setting up new molecular targeted therapies. We used the microarray technique to compare the transcriptional profiles of five hypothalamo-chiasmatic and six cerebellar pilocytic astrocytomas...

BACKGROUND: Patients with brain tumors have varied degree of functional and psychological impairments because of factors relating to the tumor or to the treatment they receive. The functional independence measurement and functional activity measurement system (FIM-FAM) is an activity of daily living (ADL) scoring system that may be able to determine impairments in different domains objectively. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From August 2007 to April 2008, 150 consecutive adult (>18 years) primary brain tumor patients (median age 40 years; male 88, female 62) registered in a general out-patient neuro-oncology clinic were accrued and detailed data were recorded...

BACKGROUND: Most pilocytic astrocytomas (piloA) are benign growths (World Health Organization [WHO] grade 1) of the deep midline structures, the brainstem, and the cerebellum. To the authors' knowledge, the literature contains only scarce data regarding piloA in adults. METHODS: Between 1995 and 2005, 44 patients (26 women and 18 men) underwent surgery for a primary or recurrent piloA at the authors' institution. All patients were aged > 16 years (mean +/- standard deviation: 31 +/- 14 years) at the time of their first surgery...