Multicentric glioma with unusual clinical presentation

Multiple glioma is a well-recognized but uncommon entity. They are grouped in two categories: multifocal and multicentric gliomas. Multifocal gliomas grow through dissemination along an established route, spreading through co mmissural pathways, CSF channels, or the blood or by local extension throug h satellite formation; at the opposite end of the spectrum, multicentric gl iomas are widely separated lesions whose simultaneous presence cannot be at tributed to any of the above pathways. Reports in the literature refer to s ingle cases or small series of multicentric gliomas, almost always in adult patients, their occurrence in children being even less frequent. We report the case of a 12-year-old boy with multicentric glioma, atypical acute cli nical onset and fast growth of three other tumors in 8 months, and then dis cuss the problems of diagnosis and therapy.