Intracranial neoplasms in children: the effect of computed tomography on age distribution.

In a review of all children with brain neoplasms evaluated at a large pediatric center during a three-year period following the introduction of computed tomography (CT), a change was observed in the age distribution at the time of clinical presentation as compared with a previous series evaluated prior to the introduction of CT. In children under six years of age, there was a highly significant trend for earlier diagnosis; within this age group, relatively more children were diagnosed in the first two years of life. Between six and twelve years of age, there was no change in frequency of brain tumor diagnosis between the two series. Above age twelve, there was again noted a highly significant increase in detection of brain tumors in the more recent series. These differences between the two series may be attributed, at least in part, to earlier referral and diagnosis since the advent of CT, although other factors cannot be excluded as possible causes of the differences.