Gliomas of the intracranial anterior optic pathways in children. The role of computed tomography, angiography, pneumoencephalography, and radionuclide brain scanning.
Twenty-two gliomas of the anterior optic pathways in children were reviewed, and the relative merits of computed tomography (CT), pneumoencephalography (PEG), angiography, and radionuclide brain scanning were assessed. Contrast-enhanced CT scans proved to be superior in demonstrating the full extracranial extent of the lesions and spread along the optic pathways; however, PEG was more reliable with small chiasmatic lesions. Angiography rarely provided a specific diagnosis of intracranial optic glioma, but in was diagnostic when the intracanalicular or intraorbital portion of the optic nerve was involved. A protocol for neuroradiological investigation of suspected cases is proposed.
D000293:Adolescent; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003390:Cranial Nerve Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009897:Optic Chiasm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009901:Optic Nerve Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009918:Orbital Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011011:Pneumoencephalography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014795:Visual Pathways