Dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum (Lhermitte-Duclos disease)

Management of unusual dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum (Lhermitte-Duclos disease) in a developing country: Case report and review of the literature

Dysplastic cerebellar gangliocytoma or Lhermitte-Duclos disease (LDD) especially in children are extremely rare. In this report we add one further case to this rare entity. A three year old boy with a history of cerebellar and brain stem compression signs was presented in unconscious condition. Computerized tomography (CT) scan revealed a well defined lesion mixed with area of calcification in the right cerebellum and severe obstructive hydrocephalus. Ventricular shunting was performed followed by gross total tumor removal three days after shunting. In the follow up period, the patient showed almost total resolution of all neurological deficits. MRI has been an imaging tool to preoperatively diagnose this disease; otherwise it would be uncertain preoperative diagnosis. However, in this report we would like to emphasize that not all uncertain diagnosis of LDD leads to palliative treatment. Well demarcated lesion may account for the safe surgical resection of this disease.

A surgically treated case of Lhermitte-Duclos disease with a precise natural history and high uptake of FDG on PET

We describe herein a surgically treated case of Lhermitte-Duclos disease in a 33-year-old man. The clinical presentation seemed typical in terms of symptoms, neurological signs, and neuroimaging. High and heterogenous fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in positron emission tomography study is presented and discussed. Furthermore, we performed volumetric analysis of the tumor with sequential magnetic resonance imaging over the course of 7 years before surgery, making this report the first with a long-term natural history, revealing that this rare disease entity may have a neoplastic nature.