[Failure to thrive as a main symptom of intracranial tumors in early childhood].

In the course of only three years we studied three children, who presented for a long time with failure to thrive as the only symptom of an intracranial tumour. Up to 24 months elapsed from the first manifestation at the age of four, ten and eleven months to the final diagnosis. A suprasellar tumour was discovered once, an infratentorial one twice. In spite of lower caloric intake a more rapid weight gain was documented after neurosurgery. The intracranial tumour is an important part of differential diagnosis in infants and young children not thriving satisfactorily.