Acquired cerebellar cavernous angioma following childhood radiotherapy in a patient with neurofibromatosis type 1

Abstract

We report the unusual case of a patient with neurofibromatosis type I, who was irradiated 16 years previously for a mesencephalic glioma causing hydrocephalus, and who developed a cerebellar haemorrhage caused by a histologically confirmed cavernous angioma, that was invisible on several earlier MRI scans. The different hypotheses concerning the de novo formation of cavernous angiomas (venous obstructive disease and genetic abnormalities) are succinctly reviewed.