Cerebellar astrocytoma presenting as a syringomyelic syndrome.

Cerebellar astrocytomas comprise about 36% of posterior fossa tumors in childhood. Such tumors presenting with hemorrhage have been reported, but in such cases, the location of the lesion was clinically obvious. This 16-year-old boy presented with a syringomyelic syndrome resulting from hemorrhage in the tumor causing compression of the upper cervical spinal cord. Such a case has not been previously recorded. Possible mechanisms leading to this syndrome are discussed and the relevant literature reviewed.