Neuropediatrics. 1998 Dec; 29(6): 328-30.

Complete remission of a diffuse pontine glioma.

Lenard HG, Engelbrecht V, Janssen G, Wechsler W, Tautz C.

Department of Paediatrics, University of Düsseldorf, Germany.

A patient is described in whom a large diffuse glioma of the pons extending into the midbrain was diagnosed at the age of 2 years. Biopsy showed a fibrillary astrocytoma. After shunting of a hydrocephalus, the clinical symptoms abated without conventional therapy. Repeated MRI studies showed a continuous decrease of the tumour which was no longer visible when the patient was 6.6 years old. In reviews on spontaneous remissions of oncologic disorders we were unable to find a case of a biologically benign brain stem tumour. There is one isolated report on a similar case, though without histologic documentation.