[Medulloblastoma in children. A 20-year case load]

Between 1968 and 1987, seventy children below the age of 14 years were treated at one institution for cerebellar medulloblastoma. There were 41 boys and 29 girls. The 70 children included one pair of siblings. All the children have been followed up by one of the authors. During the first ten years, postoperative mortality within the first month was 17.5%. During the last ten years there was only one such death (3.5%). All children from the first ten-year period are dead. In the last ten-year period 25 of 35 children have survived (observation time 1-12 years, mean six years). This improvement is due to better surgical care and the use of post-operative irradiation and chemotherapy. Cerebral computerized tomography and magnetic imaging tomography are the investigational methods of choice for medulloblastoma today.