Posterior fossa tumors

Last revised by Keshaw Kumar on 24 Feb 2023

Posterior fossa tumors have a very different differential in an adult as opposed to a child.

Adult

An important space-occupying lesion (the most common in fact) to remember is that of a stroke, which when subacute can mimic a tumor. 

Child

A quick and handy mnemonic for posterior fossa tumors in children is BEAM.

Although it is true that posterior fossa tumors are much more common in children than in adults the distribution does vary with age 2:

  • 0 to 3 years of age: supratentorial > infratentorial

  • 4 to 10 years of age: infratentorial > supratentorial

  • 10 to early adulthood: infratentorial = supratentorial

  • adults: supratentorial > infratentorial

Overall 50-55% of all brain tumors in children are found in the posterior fossa 3.

ADVERTISEMENT: Supporters see fewer/no ads

Cases and figures

  • Case 1: posterior fossa ependymoma
    Drag here to reorder.
  • Case 2: medulloblastoma
    Drag here to reorder.
  • Case 3: pilocytic astrocytoma
    Drag here to reorder.
  • Case 4: posterior fossa ependymoma
    Drag here to reorder.
  • Case 5: hemangioblastoma
    Drag here to reorder.
  • Case 6: metastasis
    Drag here to reorder.
  • Case 7: cerebellar metastasis
    Drag here to reorder.
  • Updating… Please wait.

     Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

     Thank you for updating your details.