[Low grade disseminated astrocytoma in childhood]

Leptomeningeal dissemination is a common event in some kinds of cerebral tumours, but in low-grade astrocytomas who classically have been conferred a benign course. However, multifocal affectation is described each time more frequently in these group of tumours.

We present three patients aged respectively 8 and 10 months and 10 years, who were diagnosed of low-grade astrocytoma with multicentric spread. They were treated with systemic chemotherapy and controlled with MRI. At the end of the treatment an important reduction in tumours' size was observed in the three cases.

Biological behaviour of low-grade astrocytoma as been reviewed in last years. By one side, it has been seen that certain histological characteristics are associated with an aggressive behaviour: on the other hand, long-term evolution of these tumours can be complicated with tumoral recurrence, malignization and leptomeningeal dissemination. This last one is observed each time more frequently since the use of MRI in the diagnose of cerebral tumours has become routine. From the therapeutic point of view, chemotherapy represents an effective choice for these patients' management, when surgery is not possible and radiotherapy not advisable, allowing in many cases to stop tumoral growth and sometimes to reduce it's size strongly.