Pediatric infratentorial gangliogliomas: a retrospective series

Abstract

Object The aim of this study was to retrospectively review the clinical presentation, the roles of surgery and adjuvant therapy, and the treatment-related morbidity in children with a ganglioglioma in the posterior fossa and to try and determine the prognostic factors. Methods Between 1991 and 2006, 10 children were treated for a posterior fossa ganglioglioma at the authors' institution. The mean age of the children, the duration of symptoms prior to diagnosis, and the follow-up were 8.2, 2.4, and 3.9 years, respectively. Nine of the children presented with symptoms of raised intracranial pressure. Preoperative imaging showed enhancement in all patients; in eight it was in a patchy distribution. The operations consisted of radical resection (> 75%) in seven children, biopsy in two, and a total macroscopic excision in one. Results The surgical procedure did not cause deterioration in the neurological condition in any of the children. There was no recurrence in the child who underwent total macroscopic exci...