Long-Term Survival following Gross Total Resection of Pediatric Supratentorial Ependymomas without Adjuvant Therapy

Abstract

Pediatric supratentorial ependymoma is very rare. In pediatric patients with supratentorial ependymoma, surgery alone may be an acceptable treatment when postoperative imaging confirms a gross total resection. Surgical resection is the standard and the most important treatment for ependymoma. The role of radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy following a gross total resection of supratentorial ependymoma has been uncertain. We report 2 cases of pediatric supratentorial ependymomas treated by gross total resection without postoperative adjuvant therapy. The first patient was a 7-year-old girl who presented with motor weakness and a hemiconvulsion of the right leg. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a large heterogeneously enhanced tumor in the left frontal lobe. The second patient was an 8-year-old girl who presented with headache. MRI revealed a huge heterogeneously enhanced tumor in the left frontal lobe. Gross total resection was achieved in both patients. Postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy were avoided following gross total resection. Histologically, the lesions demonstrated grade II ependymoma and anaplastic ependymoma, respectively. After follow-up of 120 months, neither patient had recurrence or dissemination. These results suggest that patients with pediatric supratentorial ependymoma treated by gross total resection alone have a favorable outcome, and postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy may be avoided.