A clinical study was made on 85 cases of brain tumor(includinf 10 cases of cerebral paragonimasis) occurring under the age of 16 out of 9,238 admissions to the Departments of Pediatrics and Neurosurgery at Senerance Hospital, Yonsei Unoversity, from Jan, 1, 1956 to Dec. 31, 1970.
The incidence of the brain tumor in children comprises 0.92 per cent of the total admission cases;
The age, sex of the patients, clinical symptoms and signs, X-ray findings, location and pathological findings of tumors were analysed and data were summerized as follows;
1. 85 tumors divided into 50 tumors of 85 cases were pathologically verified, and 35 cases were clinically diagnosed.
2. The age distribution of 85 tumors showed the highest incidence at the age of 7-8(27.1%).
3. The sex ratio of male and female was approximately 1.7:1 for all the tumors; 7:3 in the verified cases and 1:1 in the tumor of suspected group.
4. Of the verified group, the supratentorial tumor was in 28(56%) and infratentorial in 22(44%).
5. Among the 50 verified tumors astrocytoma was the commonest neoplasm being present in 12(24%) and remainders showed cerebral paragonomiasis 10(20%), medulloblastoma 7(14%), ependymoma 4(8%), craniopharygioma 3(6%), hemangioma 3(6%), brain stem glioma 2(4%), pituitary adenoma 2(4%), cholesleatoma 1(2%), oligodendroglioma 1(2%) and pinealoma 1(2%) respectively.
6. Headache occurred in 75.0% and was more worse in supratentorial tumor. Other symptoms were vomiting(57.1%), papilledema(35.7%), motor weakness(35.7%), cervical rigidity(25.0%), visual disturbance(25.0%), convulsions(25%), and staggering gait(17.9%) in order of frequency. In infratenorial tumors, vomiting was the most significant symptom(81.8%); and headache(72.7%), papilledema(54.5%), staggering gait(54.5%), cervical rigidity(36.4%), ataxia(31.8%) motor weakness(22.7%), decreased visual acuity(22.7%), abnomal pain(13.6±), enlarged head(13.6%), squint(9.1%), and convulsions(9.1%) were also noticed. Average duration of symptoms at time of the first admission was 10.7 months in the supratentrorial and 3.3 months in the infratentorial tumors.
7. Plain skull X-ray change were noted in 33 of the 42 available cases (78.6%). The abnomal pathological calcifications were found olny in 10 cases of cerebral paragonimiasis and 3 cases of craniopharyngioma. The suture separations of skull were noted in the 53.0% of tumor cases and increased convolutional making(47.0%) and erosion of the sella (24%) were seen also in infratentorial tumors.
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