ABSTRACT
Malignant neoplasia presenting in the neonatal period is rare.1-6 Neuroblastoma is the most common malignant tumor found in neonates and infants younger than 1 year old. Approximately 50% of cases of neuroblastoma occur during the first 2 years of life.7 It is a neoplasm of the sympathetic nervous system made up of primitive cells derived from the neural crest. Neuroblastoma may originate in any of those sites where sympathetic ganglia are found and very rarely even in the central nervous system, but most commonly it arises in the abdomen and particularly from the adrenal glands.3,8 Hays and Smith, in a review of 60 cases of neuroblastoma in infants under 1 year of age, found that the primary site was the abdomen and pelvis in 60% of cases, chest in 33% and neck in 5% of cases.9 Neuroblastoma occurs more frequently in boys (2:1) and the reported incidence is one in 7000-10 000 children.10 This tumor has been detected with increased frequency in patients with neurofibromatosis, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, Hirschsprung’s disease, nesidioblastosis, fetal hydantoin syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome and others.10
