Clinical aspects and long-term prognosis in supratentorial tumors of infancy and childhood.

A total of 132 children, less than 15 years of age at the time of diagnosis of an intracranial supratentorial tumor, were followed from 1 to 40 years. The patient material was unselected and the follow-up 100%. 73 were boys and 59 were girls. The tumors were located in the lateral region of the brain in 70 children and in the midline in 62. Astrocytoma was the most common histological type, followed by craniopharyngioma. The occurrence of the most malignant tumor types was significantly higher in the lateral than in the midline region. 84 children survived for more than 1 month after the initial diagnosis or surgery, and 29 of these were alive 15 to 40 years after operation. 45% of the children with tumors situated laterally and 30% of those with midline tumors were alive after 15 years. 14% of those who survived at least 15 years had severe and 34% slight neurological defects.