Intracranial tumors of the first year of life

Abstract

The introduction of new diagnostic tools for neuroimaging has resulted in the early recognition of congenital brain tumors. In the present report the authors describe an International Multicenter Series of 886 children with brain tumor, in whom the diagnosis was obtained during the first 12 months of life. Most of the tumors were located within the supratentorial compartement. In spite of a relatively high operative mortality, surgery still appears to be the more effective therapy. Radiotherapy in this age group is of little value due to the vulnerability of the infantile brain. At the present time, the use of chemotherapy is still controversial.