[Increased incidence of skull metastases in neuroblastoma]

Children with neuroblastoma sometimes present with skull and peri-orbital metastases. Recent radionuclide studies confirm the increased incidence of skull metastases compared with adult metastatic carcinoma. Malignant tumours generate skeletal metastases by spread to the bone marrow. The relatively large head of a young child results in a relatively larger proportion of bone marrow in the skull, which explains the increased incidence of skull metastases in children with metastatic skeletal neuroblastoma.