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 non-cancerous (benign) and occur in children, almost always before age 20.
There is a strong association between optic glioma and neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1).
- Reviewed last on: 6/10/2008
- James R. Mason, MD, Oncologist, Director, Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program and Stem Cell Processing Lab, Scripps Clinic, Torrey Pines, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
References
Homes LR, Munzenrider JE, Elner VM, Bardenstein DS, Lichter AS. Eye, orbit, and adnexal structures. In: Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Niederhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKenna WG, eds. Clinical Oncology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA:Churchill Livingstone;2004;chap 70.
Olitsky SE, Hug D, Smith LP. Abnormalities of the optic nerve. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. St. Louis, MO: WB Saunders; 2007;chap 608.
