Cerebral cavernous angiomas in the first year of life.

Two rare cases of cerebral cavernous angiomas in two infants, 9 and 6 months old, respectively, are reported and the other 11 cases in the literature concerning patients in the first year of life are reviewed. Cavernous angiomas of the brain occur rarely in the first year of life and present with seizures and head enlargement. On computed tomographic scan they typically appear as large, hyperdense, unenhanced masses, with large cysts and must be differentiated from tumors more common in infants, such as teratomas, ependymomas, and mixed tumors. Total removal is often possible, even with large lesions, because of the small amount of bleeding and the well-defined limits of the mass.