Computed tomography in management of medulloblastomas

• DOI: 10.1007/bf00341741
• Publication Date: 2004-10-26T13:56:19Z
• Authors: A. Sandhu; B. Kendall
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Adolescent; Infant; Middle Aged; Diagnosis, Differential; 03 medical and health sciences; Sex Factors; 0302 clinical medicine; Child, Preschool; Humans; Female; Cerebellar Neoplasms; Child; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Medulloblastoma

The neuroradiological studies of 116 patients with histologically verified medulloblastomas, which had been examined with plain and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT), were reviewed. The typical CT appearances of a well-defined, hyperdense enhancing mass in the vermis, with surrounding oedema, occurred in 60% of this series. Atypical features include calcification (17%), cystic or necrotic regions (47%) or poorly defined margins and lack of enhancement (7%). Such features in a vermis mass presenting in the first decade, especially in a boy, should not be considered against the diagnosis of medulloblastoma, but may be misleading when the tumour predominantly involves a cerebellar hemisphere.