The most common neuroepithelial tumor of the spinal cord, accounting for 50-60% of spinal cord gliomas.
Ependymomas its the third most common pediatric CNS tumor. Although as a group they represent less then 10% of all neuroepithelial tumors, ependymomas account for nearly one third of intracranial tumors in children younger than 3 years. The age distribution for ependymomas is bimodal; the first peak incidence occurs around age 5-6 years when infratentorial lesions predominate, and a second, later peak occurs in the third and fourth decades, at which time spinal examples are most common.
In general, most pediatric ependymomas are intracranial ependymomas, whereas well over one half of adult ependymomas are spinal cord ependymomas.
Ependymomas have double the rate of occurrence in white individuals compared with black individuals, whereas these tumors are equally distributed between the sexes. Although most ependymomas are sporadic, they may also be encountered in the context of neurofibromatosis type 2.
Ependymal tumors in adults are rare, accounting for less than 4 % of primary tumors of the central nervous system in adults.