An infant with cerebellar tumor presenting with torticollis as the only initial symptom

Abstract

Torticollis is an usual symptom that can be the result of various disorders, such as sternocleidomastoid muscle pathology, bony abnormalities of the cervical spine, disorders of the central or peripheral nervous system, various ocular diseases, and brain tumors, especially in children. A 12-month-old male visited our hospital because of torticollis. He was normal on systemic examination, with no neurological abnormality, and his cervical spine CT was also normal. About 4 weeks later, he revisited the emergency department due to vomiting with altered mental status, and was diagnosed with a cerebellar tumor with hemorrhage. Although torticollis is known to be an important sign of a posterior fossa tumor, associated neurological or ocular symptoms are usually present. We report here a patient with posterior fossa tumor where torticollis was the only initial presenting symptom.