Türk Nöroşirürji Dergisi 2008 , Vol 18 , Num 3
Cerebellar Mutism after Posterior Fossa Surgery in Children: Review of the Literature
Serdar KABATAŞ1, Özlem YILDIZ2, Cem YILMAZ3, M. Nur ALTINÖRS4
1, 3, 4 Başkent Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Beyin ve Sinir Cerrahisi Anabilim Dalı, Ankara, Türkiye
2 Kocaeli Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Çocuk Psikiyatrisi Anabilim Dalı, Kocaeli, Türkiye
Cerebellar mutism is a rare postoperative complication of posterior fossa surgery in the pediatric age group and is classically transient, with cranial nerve dysfunction and long-tract signs. It consists of diminished speech progressing to mutism, emotional lability, hypotonia, and ataxia. Although the pathophysiology and anatomical substrate of cerebellar mutism still remain unclear, the most accepted cause for this condition is vascular spasm with involvement of the dentate nucleus and the dentatorubrothalamic tracts to the brain-stem, and subsequently to the cortex. This disorder has been described in many other situations and consequently neurosurgeons should be familiar with its symptoms, physiopathology, diagnosis, degrees of severity, treatment, and prognosis, since a multidisciplinary approach is required. We therefore made an attempt in this paper to further understand this entity using the relevant literature. Anahtar Kelimeler : Posterior fossa surgery, Pediatric age group, Cerebellar mutism, Vascular spasm