• Ahmad Rjoub, Wafaa Abu Zahra, Noor Issa, Yazan Dumaidi, Mohammad Abuawad, Ahmed Daqour, Abdulsalam Alkaiyat, and Shahed Nasser.
• Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
• World Neurosurg. 2024 Jun 1; 186: e470e480e470-e480.

ObjectiveTo investigate the incidence rate of primary brain tumors (PBTs) among Palestinian children over a 6-year interval. This study also aimed to identify the predominant histopathologic types identified in these children.MethodsThis retrospective epidemiologic study focused on PBTs in children (<15 years) in Palestine. The data were collected from the registry system at Al-Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, a prominent referral institution in Palestine and the largest center for PBTs in the region, over a 6 years period from 2018 to 2023.ResultsThe incidence rate of PBTs in children (<15 years) was 1.33 per 100,000 person-years, with a 5% mortality rate. Pilocytic astrocytoma was the most common type (24%), followed by medulloblastoma (15.2%) and glioblastoma (6.3%). About one half of the tumors in children were malignant. Headaches were the most common first sign or symptom. About 20% of brain tumors in children were situated within the ventricles, making it the most prevalent location of these tumors, followed by the cerebellum (15.19%) and frontal lobe (11.39%).ConclusionsThis is the first national study in Palestine investigating PBTs in children. The crude incidence rate of primary brain tumors among Palestinian children was lower than the incidence rate in many countries around the world. It is recommended that more research be done on the epidemiology and distribution of PBTs in children in Palestine.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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