Abstract

OLAZABAL ARMAS, Isael  and  PEREIRA JIMENEZ, Katia. Recurrent torticollis as a form of presenting a tumor in the posterior fossa brain. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2012, vol.28, n.3, pp. 321-325. ISSN 0864-2125.

Torticollis is presented as a focal demonstration of the central nervous system, and it is a rare condition, but it may be the initial symptom in diseases of the posterior fossa brain. We report the case of a male patient aged four, with a history of pain, lateralization and twisted neck with nine months of evolution, whose symptoms were progressing. Gradually, headache, nausea and gait instability are associated. When performing the physical examination, we found clinical elements of a stiff neck and a right hemisphere cerebellar syndrome. We performed a cranial MRI, which showed a solid lesion occupying the entire floor of the fourth ventricle, and it extended to the second cervical spinal segment. Surgical approach was performed in the posterior fossa and brain tumor excision. Ependymoma was the histological diagnosis. Though most occasions, torticollis is a benign condition, when it occurs secondarily in children, one of the differential diagnoses that should be considered is the posterior fossa tumors of the brain, as in this case.

Keywords : torticollis; posterior fossa; skull spinal ependymoma; cerebellar syndrome.

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