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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
Establishment of Orthotopic Patient-derived Xenograft Models for Brain Tumors using a Stereotaxic Device
Published on: May 2, 2025
Stereotactic biopsy for brainstem tumors in pediatric patients
José L Pérez-Gómez1, Carlos A Rodríguez-Alvarez, Alfonso Marhx-Bracho
1Departamento de Neurocirugía Pediátrica, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, Insurgentes Sur 3700-C, Col. Insurgentes Cuicuilco, Deleg. Coyoacán, Mexico.
Objective:
Our aim is to describe clinical and paraclinical features in patients who underwent stereotactic-guided biopsy for brainstem tumors.
Methods:
A study of case series was made by reviewing the records of patients who underwent stereotactic biopsy for brainstem tumors.
Results:
Stereotactic biopsy for brainstem tumors was performed (between 2000 and 2008) in 20 children (11 girls, and 9 boys), mean age 7.95 +/- 3.12 years at the time of diagnosis. The mean time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis was 6.59 +/- 13.58 months (0.50-60 months). The most frequent symptoms and signs at onset were related to disturbance of cerebellar function and cranial nerve nuclei. Location was pontomesencephalic (35%), pontine (30%), pontomedullar (25%), and in the whole brainstem (10%). The most common type of image was intrinsic-diffused (55%). The histopathology was anaplastic astrocytoma (30%), followed by fibrillary and pilocytic types (25% each), low-grade astrocytoma (5%), high-grade astrocytoma (5%), and normal tissue (10%). Mild complications were observed in only two cases.
Conclusions:
Stereotactic biopsy done for clarifiying a diagnostic imaging in brainstem tumors is important in obtaining a definitive diagnosis with a low rate of complications.
