What are the symptoms of medulloblastoma in children?

summary

Medulloblastoma is a common intracranial tumor in children and one of the most malignant tumors in the central nervous system. The disease can occur in all age groups from newborn to over 70 years old, but most of them are found in children. The peak of incidence is before 10 years old, and 68.8% of them are before 8 years old. The ratio of male to female was 3 ∶ 1. The tumors originated from embryonic residual cells can occur in any part of brain tissue, but most of them grow in the cerebellar vermis above the top of the fourth ventricle. It accounts for 10% - 20% of primary brain tumors in children and 40% of posterior fossa tumors. Due to the rapid growth of the tumor, the difficulty of radical resection and the spread of implantation along the cerebrospinal fluid, the treatment of the disease is difficult. In recent 10 years, with the progress of comprehensive therapy, the treatment effect has been significantly improved. What are the symptoms of medulloblastoma in children? Let's talk about it.

What are the symptoms of medulloblastoma in children?

1. The increased intracranial pressure is characterized by headache, vomiting and optic disc edema. The smaller children may have cranial suture dehiscence.

2. Cerebellar damage sign mainly includes trunk ataxia, gait instability and Romberg sign. Swallowing cough and pyramidal tract sign may be found in medulla oblongata compressed by tumor, and 2 / 3 of the children showed low muscle tone and tendon reflex. Some patients have nystagmus and ataxia.

3. Some children can be diagnosed by finding exfoliated tumor cells in cerebrospinal fluid. Medulloblastoma is easy to spread and metastasize. If there is intraventricular dissemination in the posterior fossa, the disease can be diagnosed before operation.

matters needing attention

In recent years, with postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy, its survival has been greatly improved. In 1984, berry reported that the 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 56% and 43%, respectively; In 1988, leftkowitz reported that the 10-year and 12-year survival rates of medulloblastoma in children were 75% and 51%, respectively.