Posterior Fossa Syndrome After Surgical Removal of a Pineal Gland Tumor

Posterior fossa syndrome, characterized by oromotor or oculomotor apraxia, emotional lability, and mutism, occurs in some children after infratentorial tumor resection, and is thought to involve injury to the dentatothalamocortical tract. Previous cases of posterior fossa syndrome involved pediatric patients with cerebellar and other posterior fossa tumors. To heighten awareness that posterior fossa syndrome can occur after resections of tumors in other neuroanatomic locations, we present a 16-year-old boy who developed this syndrome after surgical removal of a supratentorial pinealoma, and we include a discussion of his self-reported signs. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.