Multiple meningiomas of the fourth ventricle in infancy: case report.

Meningiomas are uncommon tumors in infancy. Intraventricular meningiomas do occur more frequently in infancy than in adulthood, although the establishment and growth of such tumors in the fourth ventricle is exceptional in children. The occurrence of multiple meningiomas is currently estimated to be less than 8%. We present the case of a girl who displayed two meningiomas in the fourth ventricle. Five years later, the child had four more meningiomas detected and extirpated from the same site. Eighteen months later, a new tumor appeared in the lower third of the clivus; after resection this was found to be another meningioma. The presence in a child of the repeated occurrence of multiple meningiomas, both in the fourth ventricle and in other areas of the posterior fossa, have led the authors to consider that the case is both curious and rare. Twelve similar cases of meningiomas developing exclusively in the fourth ventricle have been published; of these, only 3 occurred during infancy. A discussion is offered concerning the etiology and pathogenesis of these tumors; in which the possibility of unknown neuro-oncogenic factors that might induce meningiomas is postulated.