Medulloblastomas were originally classified under gliomas of the cerebellum until Bailey and Cushing in 1925 named these tumors as medulloblastoma. At present these tumors are classified under primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Surgical excision followed by craniospinal irradiation is the treatment of choice. A 13-year-old-girl operated for posterior fossa medulloblastoma 5 years ago presented with history of headache and vomiting on and off for 4 days in late August 2008. The MRI showed left frontal tumor which on excision was reported as medulloblastoma. Even after optimal treatment reports of recurrence abound in literature. The most common location is in the posterior fossa, followed by spinal, supratentorial, and uncommonly, systemic metastases. We conclude that medulloblastomas are highly aggressive tumor with high local recurrences if the initial excision is incomplete and that recurrence in the supratentorial area although uncommon is still a possibility. This mandates regular follow up of these children till adulthood to catch early recurrences and metastatic disease.
Posterior fossa extradural haematoma is known for the vague signs and symptoms and a notoriouscourse that varies from recovery to sudden death. The incidence of posterior fossa epidural hematomasamong intracranial epidural hematomas has been reported from 4% to 7%. Subsequently, PFEDHwith low GCS or the haematoma of more than 10ml were subjected to evacuation. Since the volumeof the posterior fossa is limited, patients deteriorate early with the development of obstructivehydrocephalus, which is visible in the CT scan in only thirty percent of cases.A retrospective study of 43 cases was done in this Institute from May 1999 to December 2005. Themales (98%) have a clear predominance over female patients (2%). Road traffic accidents accountedfor the majority of the cases (80%), fall for the rest (17%) and one case due to a bullhorn injury.Vomiting was the most common symptom accounting for 67% of cases followed by transient lossof consciousness in 48% and headache in 34%. On arrival to the hospital 67% presented with a GCSmore than 13, 28% with score of 9-12 and the rest 5% with GCS of less than 8. Out of the total 43 casesof PFEDH surgical evacuation was done in 33(76%) and conservative management in 10 cases (23%).A dichotomised Glasgow outcome score was used to measure the outcome. This was favorable in27 of the 33 cases operated (81%), and 7 out of the 10 conservatively managed group (70%). Overallfavorable outcome was found in 34 cases (79%) with overall mortality of the study being 7%.Key words: extradural, haematoma, posterior fossa, trauma
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