Congenital brain tumours: diagnostic and therapeutic approach. With a report of 3 cases

Three cases of congenital brain tumours are reported, which presented with signs of increased intracranial pressure soon after birth, giving rise to the suspicion of a cerebral haemorrhage or of hydrocephalus. Correct diagnosis of tumour was established by computerised tomography, which additionally demonstrated a concomitant haematoma in each case. Two of the newborns had a primarily fatal course, with no specific treatment of the tumours being feasible. The remaining child underwent two operations, experiencing an unhindered neurologic and mental development thereafter. The histologic diagnoses were spongioblastoma and medulloblastoma in the first two cases, and ganglioneuroblastoma in the last. A conspicuous clinicopathologic feature of this neuroblastoma was the marked change in its growth pattern, revealing a higher degree of histologic differentiation and less malignant biological behaviour when tumour regrowth occurred. The diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic implications for this special clinicopathologic condition are discussed, with a review of the relevant literature.