The cerebellar hemangioblastomas; review of fifty-three cases with special reference to cerebellar cysts and the association of polycythemia.

Abstract

CUSHING AND BAILEY1believed that xanthochromic cysts of the cerebellum which were not definitely associated with gliomas were in all likelihood of hemangioblastomatous origin. Our experience with those cerebellar cysts led us to analyze our material of the past 20 years, chiefly in order to establish their relation to the hemangioblastomas. We also wished to determine the incidence of multiple hemangioblastoma, i. e., Lindau's disease, in our series and to examine the occurrence of polycythemia in patients with hemangioblastoma. CASE MATERIAL This study comprises 48 surgically verified cases of cerebellar hemangioblastoma or hemangioblastomatous cyst and 5 cases in which the tumor was first disclosed at autopsy. Thirty-seven occurred in the Neurological Institute of New York between 1929 and 1949, and 11, in the Veterans Administration Hospital, New York. A total of 32 hemangioblastomas were verified cytologically, and 7 were verified by inspection at operation. Included in this study are