Summary
The neuroradiological studies of 116 patients with histologically verified medulloblastomas, which had been examined with plain and contrastenhanced computed tomography (CT), were reviewed. The typical CT appearances of a well-defined, hyperdense enhancing mass in the vermis, with surrounding oedema, occurred in 60% of this series. Atypical features include calcification (17%), cystic or necrotic regions (47%) or poorly defined margins and lack of enhancement (7%). Such features in a vermis mass presenting in the first decade, especially in a boy, should not be considered against the diagnosis of medulloblastoma, but may be misleading when the tumour predominantly involves a cerebellar hemisphere.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Russell DS, Rubenstein LJ (1977) Pathology of tumours of the central nervous system, 4th edn. Arnold, London, pp 244–245
Rubenstein LJ (1972) Tumors of the central nervous system. Atlas of tumour pathology, 2nd series, fasc 6. AFIP, Washington, pp 130–131
Zimmerman RA, Bilaniuk LT, Pahlajani H (1978) Spectrum of medulloblastomas demonstrated by computed tomography. Radiology 126:137–141
Naidich TP, Lin JP, Leeds NE, Pudlowski RM, Naidich JB (1977) Primary tumors and other masses of the cerebellum and fourth ventricle: Differential diagnosis by computed tomography. Neuroradiology 14:153–174
Weisberg LA (1982) Computerized tomographic findings in medulloblastomas. Comput Radiol 6:83–91
Kingsley DPE, Kendall BE (1979) The CT scanner in posterior fossa tomours of childhood. Br J Radiol 52:769–776
Tsuchida T, Tanaka R, Fukuda M, Takeda N, Ito J, Honda H (1984) CT findings of medulloblastoma. Childs Brain 11: 60–68
Enzmann DR, Norman D, Levin V, Wilson C, Newton TH (1978) Computed tomography in the follow-up of medulloblastomas and ependymomas. Radiology 128:57–63
Harwood-Nash DC, Fitz CR (1977) Neuroradiology in infants and children, vol 2. Mosby, St. Louis, pp 733–749
Zee CS, Segall HD, Miller C, Ahmadi J, McComb JG, Han JS, Park SH (1982) Less common CT features of medulloblastomas. Radiology 144:97–102
Kazner E, Aurich A, Grumme TH (1976) Results of computerized axial tomography with infratentorial tumors. In: Lanksch W, Kazner E (eds) Cranial computerized tomography. Springer, Berlin, pp 90–103
Yashon D, White R, Croft TJ, Becker DP, Jane JA (1971) Midline posterior fossa neoplasms without lateral ventricular enlargement. JAMA 215:89–93
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sandhu, A., Kendall, B. Computed tomography in management of medulloblastomas. Neuroradiology 29, 444–452 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00341741
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00341741