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Optic glioma - Overview

Alternative Names

Glioma - optic; Optic nerve glioma

Definition of Optic glioma:

Gliomas are tumors that grow in various parts of the brain. Optic gliomas can affect:

One or both of the optic nerves, which carry visual information to the brain from each eye
The optic chiasm, the area where the optic nerves cross each other in front of the hypothalamus of the brain

An optic glioma may also grow along with a hypothalamic glioma.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Optic gliomas are rare. The cause of optic gliomas is unknown. Most optic gliomas are slow-growing and noncancerous (benign) and occur in children, almost always before age 20.

There is a strong association between optic glioma and neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1).

Neurofibromatosis I, enlarged optic foramen

Reviewed last on: 3/2/2010
David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital.

References

Karcioglu ZA, Haik BG. Eye, orbit, and adnexal structures. In: Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Niederhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKenna WG, eds. Abeloff’s Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2008:chap 71.

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