Morphologic and pathogenetic considerations of supratentorial gliomas in children

The results of a histological investigation carried out on 758 children's brain tumours are presented. Attention is drawn to supratentorial tumours, particularly gliomas of cerebral hemispheres (neoencephalic structures). Mono- or bicellular gliomas corresponding to tumours of adult age (astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma) as well as typical glioblastomas are seldom encountered in children. Supratentorial hemispheric tumours are mostly composed of more than two cell populations ("mixed heterogenous tumours"); this is commonly the case in infants. The importance of an extensive histological examination of many different tumour parts is stressed. Otherwise, the regional differences of neoplastic cells populations can give rise to wrong diagnoses as well as speculative hypotheses concerning "cell differentiation" or maturation" in recurrences.