2018 Volume 55 Issue 5 Pages 417-420
A 6-month-old infant developed paraplegia at 4 months of age. Spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an intramedullary tumor in Th7-L1. Partial excisional surgery was performed, and a diagnosis of anaplastic astrocytoma (grade III) was made. MRI revealed a large residual lesion (48 mm×10 mm) after resection. Radiotherapy with a total dose of 36 Gy in 24 fractions was performed, but the lesion remained with a size of 43 mm×5 mm, although paraplegia of both lower limbs improved. After 14 courses of oral administration of etoposide (25 mg/day for 11 days), no residual lesion was observed. No recurrence has been detected for 19 months from the disease onset. In anaplastic astrocytoma, complete resection and radiotherapy are the main treatments, whereas the significance of chemotherapy has not been established. Our patient showed that remission could be achieved by administering etoposide for anaplastic astrocytoma even after partial resection.
