Computed tomography of benign supratentorial astrocytomas of infancy and childhood.

The CT findings of 15 benign supratentorial astrocytomas in children less than 15 years of age are compared with the CT findings of 19 supratentorial tumors of other histological types in the same age group. Astrocytomas were more often hypodense, lacked calcification and showed greater contrast enhancement than other tumors. Seven of the 15 astrocytomas were hypodense, without calcification and showed contrast enhancement of more than 10 Hounsfield units, whereas this coexistence was not present in any of the 19 tumors of the other histological types.