Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2001;59(4):849-853 NEUROLOGICAL EVALUATION OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH BRAIN TUMOR, BASED ON AMBULATORY-ORIENTED FOLLOW-UP

ABSTRACT- Taken as proved that brain tumors are the second most frequent childhood neoplasm- only outnumbered by leukemias- we have undertaken a clinical perspective study with seventy brain tumor patients ranging from one to fifteen years of age, throughout a four-year period (1993-1997), based on ambulatory-oriented follow-up. Forty-one male and twenty-nine female patients were analyzed, in that a slightly higher number of infratentorial tumors was observed (thirty-eight cases), compared to those supratentorially located (thirty-two cases). The most repeatedly observed during the study was the medulloblastoma (twenty-one patients), followed by the astrocytoma (fifteen patients) and the germinoma (eleven patients). It should be pointed out that during the ambulatory follow-up 75,5 % of patients developed neurological sequels. A tumor recurrence was noticed in 34,3 % of them, while 21,4 % eventually died. KEY WORDS: infratentorial, supratentorial, sequels, brain tumors. Avaliação neurológica de crianças e adolescentes com tumor cerebral através de acompanhamento ambulatorial RESUMO- Considerando que os tumores cerebrais correspondem à segunda neoplasia mais freqüente na infância, sendo apenas superados pelas leucemias, realizamos um estudo clínico prospectivo em setenta pacientes com tumor cerebral, com idade variando de um a quinze anos, por um período de quatro ano