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Freiburg Neuropathology Case Conference

Posterior Fossa Mass in an Infant
  • C. A. TaschnerEmail author
  • D. Erny
  • M. J. Shah
  • H. Urbach
  • U. Feige
  • M. Prinz
Clinical Case
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Case Report

A 10-month-old boy became conspicuous 4–6 weeks before hospital admission with backward tilting of his head. He was finally admitted to hospital for decreased vigilance that had started 2 days prior to admission. Apart from anisocoric pupils the patient did not show any neurological deficits on admission. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head showed an obstructive hydrocephalus in relation with a massive posterior fossa tumor. An external ventricular drainage was immediately placed. The subsequent craniotomy and operative excision of the tumor was performed with the patient in prone position. The tumor appeared cystic, with moderate bleeding and showed necrotic components. The tumor was resected down to the level of the fourth ventricle. Ventral to this level a separation from the cranial nerves and the brain stem was not possible, so that a significant amount of residual tumor remained. The postoperative course was uneventful. Apart from a slight strabismus there...

Keywords

Posterior fossa tumor Infratentorial astrocytoma Medulloblastoma Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor Anaplastic ependymoma 
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Notes

Compliance with ethical guidelines

Conflict of interest

C.A. Taschner, D. Erny, M.J. Shah, H. Urbach, U. Feige and M. Prinz declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical standards

All investigations described in this manuscript were carried out with the approval of the responsible ethics committee and in accordance with national law and the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 (in its current revised form). Informed consent was obtained from the patient in this case if identifiable from images or other information within the manuscript. In the case of the underage patient in this report, informed consent was obtained from the legal representatives.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  • C. A. Taschner
    • 1
    Email author
  • D. Erny
    • 2
  • M. J. Shah
    • 3
  • H. Urbach
    • 1
  • U. Feige
    • 1
  • M. Prinz
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Neuroradiology, Medical Centre—University of FreiburgUniversity of FreiburgFreiburgGermany
  2. 2.Department of Neuropathology, Medical Centre—University of FreiburgUniversity of FreiburgFreiburgGermany
  3. 3.Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Centre—University of FreiburgUniversity of FreiburgFreiburgGermany

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