Brainstem gliomas occur at 3 distinct anatomic locations—diffuse intrinsic pontine, tectal, and cervicomedullary. Intrinsic pontine gliomas carry a grave prognosis. Brainstem gliomas have been reported to make up 2.4% of all intracranial tumors in adults and 9.4% of intracranial tumors in children.Morbidity is due to the location of the space-occupying lesion and compression of surrounding structures; because these structures regulate basic body functions of blood pressure, respiration, and swallowing as well as motor and sensory functions, compression can produce substantial neurological disability. Bimodal age distribution has been noted, with a peak incidence in the latter half of the first decade of life and a second peak in the fourth decadeThe typical MRI appearance of a brainstem glioma is an expansile, infiltrative process with low-to-normal signal intensity on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous high-signal intensity on T2-weighted images, with or without contrast enhancement.
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