Primary rhabdomyosarcoma of the leptomeninx. Clinical, neuroradiological and pathological aspects.

Report of an eight-year-old boy presenting with untreatable focal epilepsy and slowly progressing hemiparesis combined with personality changes. Continuous diagnostic efforts eventually resulted in the diagnosis of a primary intracranial rhabdomyosarcoma several months later. The delay in making the correct diagnosis was due to the fact that the malignant process originated as a diffuse involvement of the leptomeninx, and only in later stages a tumor mass developed. Nosology and histogenesis of primary intracranial rhabdomyosarcomas are discussed.