[The meningioma within the lateral ventricle in infancy--a case report].

Meningiomas within the lateral ventricle in infancy are extremely rare. The authors report such a case because of its rarity. The presented case is a 23-month-old boy, who had gait disturbance as an initial symptom. At the beginning of May, 1985, his mother found his limping, therefore he admitted to our hospital on May 23. On his admission, clinical features were the left mild hemiparesis, the hyperreflexia of left extremities, and the papilloedema on the both sides. A CT scan revealed a homogeneously enhanced mass at the right trigon. Cerebral angiography showed enlargement and displacement of the left anterior and posterior choroidal arteries. On May 27, an operation was performed with the temporal approach, and the tumor was totally removed. A histological diagnosis is confirmed a fibroblastic meningioma. The postoperative course was uneventful and he was made an almost complete recovery. Intracranial meningiomas in children put the incidence 0.4-2.2% of all primary intracranial tumors. Besides, intraventricular meningiomas in infant younger the age of two years are only five cases (including our case) have been reported in the literature. The three cases of them were reported vaguely, and the other one was an angioblastic meningioma. Therefore, we think that our case is very extremely rare one. Meningiomas of the ventricles are generally become large before symptoms appear. The point agrees with our case, but which had a specific initial complaint of gait disturbance, we think. CT scan and angiography are quite useful for the diagnosis of intraventricular meningiomas. Early diagnosis and surgical removal permits better results.