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.

Glioma - optic; Optic nerve glioma

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).

Images

Neurofibromatosis I, enlarged optic foramen

Review Date: 03/02/2010
Reviewed By: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)