Here is a pilocytic astrocytoma (juvenile, or cystic, astrocytoma) of the cerebellum in a child. This neoplasm typically is composed of a large cyst with a mural nodule of solid tumor. Most childhood brain tumors arise below the tentorium, which is the reverse of the adult. Gliomas in children, therefore, are most common in the posterior fossa. Childhood astrocytomas are often cystic (so-called "juvenile astrocytomas"). |