• Bettina Wabbels, Anke Demmler, Johannes Seitz, Matthias Woenckhaus, Heinz-Georg Bloss, and Birgit Lorenz.
• Department of Paediatric Ophthalmology, Strabismology and Ophthalmogenetics, University of Regensburg, Franz Josef Strauss Allee 11, 93053 Regensburg, Germany. bettina.wabbels@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
• Graefes Arch. Clin. Exp. Ophthalmol. 2004 Sep 1; 242 (9): 741-8.

IntroductionAdult malignant optic nerve gliomas are rare and rapidly fatal visual pathway tumours. They represent a clinical entity different from the more common childhood benign optic nerve gliomas, which are frequently associated with neurofibromatosis I.Case ReportA 61-year-old woman presented with rapidly progressing right vision loss, lower altitudinal visual field defect and papilloedema. MRI showed intraorbital and intracranial swelling of the right optic nerve. Resection of the intracranial part of the right optic nerve up to the chiasm revealed anaplastic astrocytoma grade III. Within 1 year, the patient died of leptomeningeal metastasis despite radiotherapy. Clinical and MRI evaluation of the left eye and optic nerve were normal at all times.DiscussionUnilateral adult malignant glioma of the optic nerve is exceptional. The final diagnosis was only confirmed by optic nerve biopsy. In the literature, only one patient has been reported with a unilateral tumour manifestation; he was lost to follow-up 3 months later. All other cases were bilateral. To date, 44 case reports of adult malignant optic nerve glioma have been published, either malignant astrocytoma or glioblastoma. These tumours can mimic optic neuritis in their initial presentation. The diagnosis is seldom made before craniotomy. On MRI images, malignant glioma cannot be distinguished from optic nerve enlargement due to other causes. Although radiotherapy appears to prolong life expectancy, all presently available treatment options (radiation, surgery, radio-chemotherapy) are of limited value. Most patients go blind and die within 1 or 2 years.

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