Tumours of the central nervous system: analysis of 476 cases observed at the University Hospital of the West Indies

ABSTRACT

A statistical survey of the incidence, age and sex distribution, and preferential sites of occurrence of tumours of the central nervous system observed at the University Hospital of the West Indies during a 15-year period is presented. Four hundred and seventy-six histologically confirmed neoplasms were recorded. Intracranial tumours were 7 times as common as those of the spinal cord. Of 416 intracranial neoplasms, there were 40 percent neuropithelial tumours, 21 percent meningiomas, 15 percent pituitary adenomas, 9 percent metastatic lesions, 6 percent congenital tumours, 5 percent vasoformative tumours, 3 percent nerve sheath tumours and 1 percent unclassified neoplasms. Men and women were equally affected. Meningiomas and pituitary adenomas were more frequent than in other reported series. Metastases were relatively more frequent in the spinal than in the intracranial group. Of the primary spinal tumours, those of nerve sheath origin were nearly three times as common as the meningiomas (AU)