Retrospective study of medulloblastoma with special reference to astrocytic differentiation : review of 63 cases

Sixty three consecutive patients with posterior fossa medulloblastoma were studied retrospectively. Fifty one patients were below 15 years of age and there was male predominance (3:1). Eighty percent of the patients had been symptomatic for less than 6 months. Features of raised intracranial pressure was the commonest clinical presentation. The tumour was placed in midline in 85 cases. Sixty patients had hydrocephalus and a preoperative CSF shunt was carried out in 49 patients. A gross total resection are carried out in 59 patients and a partial resection in 3 patients. Tumour biopsy alone was performed in one patient. The operative mortality was 12.6. Nine patients developed remote metastasis. Specimens from fifty seven patients were studied for evidence of astrocytic differentiation which was seen in 31. No correlation was found between the 2 year survival and presence of astrocytic differentiation.