Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 1981;44:820-828 Cerebellar astrocytomas in children and young adults

SUMMARY A clinical and pathological review of 43 cases of cerebellar astrocytomas in children and young adults was undertaken. Thirty-one of the 36 surviving patients were examined by computed tomography. Twelve patients with asymptomatic tumour were detected. Histology was necessary to identify the higher risk "diffuse " group, but no histological features helped to identify tumours liable to recur. Improvements in the prognosis may occur with long term CT scanning. Since Cushing in 19311 described successful surgery for cerebellar astrocytomas, studies based on well documented prolonged follow-up show that these tumours carry a favourable prognosis2-9 following surgery. However, these studies also show that a proportion of patients have a poorer prognosis through tumour recurrence.'0 The present study aims to investigate further the reasons for this and the behaviour of these tumours following surgery with the contribution of computed tomography (CT) in the assessment after operation. Implications for the management of these patients are discussed