Freiburg Neuropathology Case Conference: An Infant with a Supratentorial Mass Lesion

Excerpt

A 5-month-old female infant with no relevant previous medical history was referred to our university children’s hospital. Her parents reported increasing agitation and sensitivity to light touch of their daughter’s head as well as a questionably somewhat reduced motor activity of the left arm in the past two weeks. Furthermore, there was a progressive growth of the head circumference retrospectively. On admission to the paediatric neurology ward, the infant was tired but awake with regular vital signs. She showed good eye contact and seemed to be interested in her environment, and no focal neurological deficit could be detected. The muscle tonus was slightly reduced, but she showed symmetric spontaneous movements of her legs and arms. Her head was somewhat asymmetric with discreet accentuation of the right parietal side with prominent cutaneous veins, and the fontanel was wide open and slightly raised. The physical examination was otherwise normal. The following magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed a cerebral mass in the right hemisphere (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4).

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