title: Optic nerve aspergillosis: report of a case diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration biopsy.
abstract: The aim of this study was to describe the fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) procedure in patient with a optic nerve lesion. A case of optic nerve and brain aspergillosis, an infrequent condition that can mimic tumor or tumor-like lesions, is reported. The patient was studied by CT and MRI and definite diagnosis was established by means of an ultrasound-guided FNAB. Specimen preparation revealed the presence of multiple hyphae of Aspergillus fumigatus in the optic nerve lesion. The FNAB procedure is a safe and reliable diagnostic method for suspected intraorbitary tumors and tumor-like conditions especially when other less-invasive modalities have failed to establish the diagnosis and when cytologic confirmation is needed to implement aggressive therapy.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Hospital Miguel Servet, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: García-Asensio
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Artigas
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barrena
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020953:Neuroaspergillosis / Q000473:pathology*; D009901:Optic Nerve Diseases / Q000473:pathology*