Bleeding around the brain in a young child with an optic glioma
Original title: Non-traumatic bilateral subdural hematoma in a 1-year-old child with optic glioma: a rare case report and literature review.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This is a report about one child who was treated, not a test of a new treatment.
The short version
Doctors describe one young child with a brain tumor who had bleeding around the brain, even though he was never hurt in an accident.
What was studied. This is a report about one patient. He was a boy, 1 year and 3 months old. He had an optic glioma: A tumor that starts in the glial cells, the support cells of the brain and spinal cord. Gliomas are graded 1 to 4 by how fast they tend to grow. See the glossary and was getting chemotherapy.
What they found. His head kept getting bigger, from 56 cm to 59 cm. He was very sleepy and was eating and drinking less. His eyes looked pushed downward. A scan showed a lot of old blood on both sides of his brain, pressing on it and pushing it out of place. Surgeons operated right away and drained over 400 cc of blood. He got better quickly and started eating again within 48 hours.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Bleeding around the brain can happen in a child with a brain tumor even with no fall or injury. The early signs can be quiet ones, like a growing head size, more sleepiness, or eating less. If you see changes like these in a child on tumor treatment, it is worth telling the care team soon.
What it doesn't mean: This is one child's story. It is not a study, and it does not tell us how often this happens. It does not test a new treatment, and it is not a cure. The doctors also say they do not know for sure what caused the bleeding. Care for any one child still depends on that child's own doctors.
Source: PubMed, July 24, 2026 · Read the original
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