[A case of congenital brain tumor diagnosed during follow-up of neonatal intracranial hemorrhage].

We describe a three-year-old girl whose growing congenital brain tumor may have been responsible for her perinatal intracranial hemorrhage. The patient, born after an uneventful pregnancy and delivery, had an intracranial hemorrhage in the right frontal area, including the basal ganglia, as a newborn. Her only symptoms at that time were vomiting and fever. She improved both, clinically and neuroradiologically during the following weeks, and except for mild left hemiparesis, the patient developed with no other apparent neurological deficits. However, a follow-up brain CT scan at 3 years of age, disclosed a heterogeneous tumor with a 5 cm diameter in the same right frontal area as the neonatal hemorrhage. The tumor was surgically removed, and diagnosed as a benign mixed tumor composed of differentiated astrocytoma and meningioma elements. It is conceivable that the brain tumor may have been growing rather slowly since an early fetal stage. This case indicates the need of being aware that neonatal intracranial hemorrhages may be caused by bleeding of congenital brain tumors.