Cranial magnetic resonance imaging findings of leptomeningeal contrast enhancement after pediatric posterior fossa tumor resection and its significance Case report

In this report, the authors illustrate the potential shortfalls of early postoperative MR imaging following resection of a posterior fossa tumor. The authors present the cases of a 10-month-old boy and a 14-year-old boy with posterior fossa tumors that were surgically resected and monitored immediately postoperatively with MR imaging. The MR imaging study obtained immediately postresection while the children were still anesthetized revealed enhancing elements in both patients, which were suggestive of leptomeningeal metastases. When this signal was followed on subsequent MR images, it was no longer visible. The patients are both recurrence free at the time of this publication. These cases demonstrate that early postoperative MR imaging findings for leptomeningeal metastases may be unreliable after excision of posterior fossa tumors and may have potential implications for intraoperative MR imaging techniques currently under development. (DOI: 10.3171/2010.4.PEDS1058)