Abstract :
Paediatric brain tumours are the most common solid tumours in children and hence, leading cause of
mortality and morbidity in children in our country. Though we have enough statistical data about its
epidemiology in western population, there are only a few reports from developing countries like India.
Aims: To study the epidemiological patterns of brain tumours in children in our institute.
Materials and Methods: It is a medical record based observational study in which retrospective
epidemiological approach is used. The records of 50 children
suffering from primary brain malignancy over a period of one year are selected. Data regarding age, sex,
site of the tumour, clinical features, histology and immunohistochemistry are collected. The World Health
Organization classification 2016 of neoplasms is adopted.
Results: Male patients falling under the age group of 6-10 years is the most common age group in which
these tumours are diagnosed. The most common primary paediatric brain tumours were astrocytic tumours
(28%), followed by medulloblastoma (26%) and ependymoma (16%). The most common astrocytic tumour
was pilocytic astrocytoma.
Conclusion: Our study is an attempt to analyse the epidemiological pattern of paediatric CNS tumours in
premiere tertiary care cancer institute of western India which showed the histological profile of paediatric
brain tumours in India is like that reported in the Western literature.
Keyword :
Paediatric CNS tumours, Epidemiological study, WHO classification 2016.