The clinical and imaging features of infratentorial germinomas compared with supratentorial ectopic germinomas

Abstract

Background Intracranial germinoma is very sensitive to chemoradiotherapy, while the risk of infratentorial operation is high. The accurate diagnosis can provide the more reasonable treatment, avoiding the unnecessary therapeutic risks. Purpose To evaluate the clinical and imaging features of infratentorial germinomas. Material and Methods The clinical and imaging data of 13 infratentorial germinomas were collected and compared with 17 supratentorial germinomas in the same period. The clinical and imaging findings were retrospectively analyzed. Results Infratentorial germinomas were more common in female patients than supratentorial ones (53.85% vs. 11.76%, P = 0.020). The mean age of the infratentorial group (23.0 ± 10.2 years) was significantly older than that of supratentorial group (12.4 ± 3.3 years, P = 0.003). Most infratentorial germinomas (12/13, 92.31%) underwent surgical resection, while stereotactic biopsy was more common in the supratentorial group (11/17, 64.71%, P = 0.002). Infratentorial germinomas were significantly smaller than supratentorial ones (25.85 ± 8.13 mm vs. 37.18 ± 18.11 mm, P = 0.031). Cystic lesions were more common in supratentorial germinomas (12/17, 70.59%), while most infratentorial germinomas were solid lesions (10/13, 76.92%, P = 0.025). On post-contrast T1-weighted imaging, obvious enhancement was more common in infratentorial germinomas than in supratentorial ones (100% vs. 64.71%, P = 0.024). Conclusion In addition to the common findings with supratentorial germinomas, infratentorial lesions have some specific clinical and imaging features.