Long-term prognosis in children with benign cerebellar astrocytoma.

In 44 children with benign cerebellar astrocytoma, operated on between 1935 and 1959, two histological types could be distinguished, namely, a so-called juvenile type (31 children) and a diffuse type (13 children). All the children were followed to April, 1976, and the histological review was performed without knowledge of the survival in the single patient. For children with the juvenile type of cerebellar astrocytoma the 25-year cumulative survival rate was 94%, as against 38% for children with the diffuse type. It has thus been demonstrated that the morphological difference between the two types corresponds to a marked difference in survival rate.