Malignant oligodendroglioma in a child: a case report

Abstract

Neonatal brain tumours are a rare clinical finding. Only few such cases are reported so far in the literature. The primary presentation in an affected child is usually discrete, non-specific and focal neurological symptoms. Clinically the development of the child was normal except for the macrocephaly. We describe a 9-month-old girl with a congenital anaplastic oligodendroglioma and a fatal outcome. In our case the diagnosis was made after the child died. The autopsy found a tumour formation 8/8/5 cm in size and 130g in weight in the frontotemporal lobe of the right brain hemisphere, which compressed the lateral ventricle. The microscopic examination revealed an anaplastic oligodendroglioma. Besides the routine hemathoxyline-eosine staining histochemical and immunohistochemical staining were used to prove the tumor diagnosis.

Keywords: oligodendroglioma, congenital, anaplastic

African Journal of Paediatric Surgery Vol. 2(1) 2005: 32-34