Posterior Fossa Tumors in Children

ABSTRACT

The authors reviewed retrospectively the records of 27 cases of posterior fossa tumor in patients below the age of 60 among the 387 brain tumor cases admitted to Kyungpook University Hospital during the last 10 years. The posterior fossa tumors were 34.2% of the total 79 cases of pediatric brain tumors. The most frequently involved age group was 6~8 years. Headache(40.7%) and vomiting(37.0%) were the most common initial presenting symptoms. Cerebellar signs, Cranial nerve palsy and motor weakness were found in 66.7%, 9.6% and 11.1% of the cases respectively. Cerebellar midline was the most frequently involved site(63.0%). In order of frequency, the pathological diagnoses were medulloblastoma, ependymoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor(PNET), and astrocytoma. Hydrocephalus was noted in 70.4%, and shunt surgery was done in 28.6%. Surgery followed by radiation therapy was used in most of the cases.