Association between the growth rate of subependymal giant cell astrocytoma and age in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex

The most common neurological complications associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) include intractable seizures that begin in infancy and subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA) complicated by hydrocephalus with increasing age. Information on SEGA growth of TSC patients is limited. This study aimed to examine the TSC-SEGA growth rates by periodic neuroimaging. This study evaluated the TSC-SEGA growth rates by serial neuroimaging. Fifty-eight patients with TSC underwent systematic evaluation, including a review of medical history and serial brain neuroimaging. While magnetic resonance imaging was more sensitive in detecting cortical tubers than computed tomography (73.1 vs. 0 %, p < 0.001), its efficacy in identifying intracranial lesions was comparable to that of computed tomography (96.2 vs. 100 %, p = 0.658). Significant tumor growth was observed in children (p = 0.012) and adults (p = 0.028) during follow-up periods, respectively (median for children 23.5 months, interquartile range 18-40 months and median for adults 23 months, interquartile range 12-34 months). Further, the SEGA growth rate in children was significantly higher than that in adults (75.6 vs. 16.5 %, p = 0.03). The results of the study show that SEGA has a significantly higher growth rate in children using serial follow-up brain imaging, suggesting the importance of performing follow-up neuroimaging at yearly intervals in childhood to identify and prevent potential comorbidities.