Unusual case of leptomeningeal dissemination of a diffuse pontine high-grade astrocytoma in a child.

A 12-year-old girl was seen in our hospital and diagnosed with diffuse pontine glioma. Treatment with radiotherapy was suggested, but the parents rejected this plan and took the child to another hospital where partial resection of the tumor was performed. The histological diagnosis was anaplastic astrocytoma. Returning to our hospital, the parents agreed to radiotherapy which was given in a total dose of 54 Gy. However, 3 months after completion of radiotherapy, the child developed widespread leptomeningeal dissemination of her disease and died 12 months after the initial diagnosis. Since no effective curative methods of treatment exist for patients with diffuse pontine gliomas and surgical intervention is obsolete in this situation and may facilitate leptomeningeal dissemination of the disease, further innovative methods of treatment are needed to improve the bleak prognosis of these patients.