Clinical Aspects and Long‐term Prognosis of Intracranial Tumours in Infancy and Childhood

Abstract

The long-term prognosis in 316 children (aged 0-14 yr) in whom intracranial tumor was diagnosed from 1935-1959 was evaluated; 196 patients survived for longer than 4 wk after diagnosis or operation, and 74 patients survived to follow-up after an observation period of 15-40 yr. The prognosis for children with intracranial tumors is dependent on the age at which the diagnosis is made. The older the child the greater his chance of survival. In this study, the older age group (10-14 yr) also had the greatest number of recurrences after more than 10 yr. A clinical history of more than 6 mo. is associated with a better prognosis. Long-term survival was independent of whether the tumor was supratentorial or infratentorial, but all patients with deep cerebral tumors and brain stem tumors died within the observation period. Patients with intrapontine tumors had a very poor quality of life up to the time of death, whereas the majority of patients who survived for more than 1 yr before recurrence were almost free from symptoms during the interval.