title: Direct Cranial Nerve Involvement by Gliomas: Case Series and Review of the Literature.
abstract: Malignant gliomas are characterized by infiltrative growth of tumor cells, including along white matter tracts. This may result in clinical cranial neuropathy due to direct involvement of a cranial nerve rather than by leptomeningeal spread along cranial nerves. Gliomas directly involving cranial nerves III-XII are rare, with only 11 cases reported in the literature before 2014, including 8 with imaging. We present 8 additional cases demonstrating direct infiltration of a cranial nerve by a glioma. Asymmetric cisternal nerve expansion compared with the contralateral nerve was noted with a mean length of involvement of 9.4 mm. Based on our case series, the key imaging feature for recognizing direct cranial nerve involvement by a glioma is the detection of an intra-axial mass in the pons or midbrain that is directly associated with expansion, signal abnormality, and/or enhancement of the adjacent cranial nerves.
authors: From the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging (M.C.M., C.M.G., M.D.M., G.E.P., S.C.) marc.mabray@ucsf.edu.
authors: M C
authors: MC
authors: Mabray
authors: From the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging (M.C.M., C.M.G., M.D.M., G.E.P., S.C.) Otolaryngology (C.M.G.).
authors: C M
authors: CM
authors: Glastonbury
authors: From the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging (M.C.M., C.M.G., M.D.M., G.E.P., S.C.).
authors: M D
authors: MD
authors: Mamlouk
authors: From the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging (M.C.M., C.M.G., M.D.M., G.E.P., S.C.).
authors: G E
authors: GE
authors: Punch
authors: Pathology (D.A.S.).
authors: D A
authors: DA
authors: Solomon
authors: From the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging (M.C.M., C.M.G., M.D.M., G.E.P., S.C.) Neurosurgery (S.C.), University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Cha
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D003391:Cranial Nerves / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged