Optic Nerve Glioma | Symptoms & Causes
What are the symptoms of optic nerve gliomas?
Brain tumors can cause a variety of symptoms in children based on their age and the location of the tumor. Keep in mind that the symptoms of an optic nerve glioma may resemble other more common conditions or medical problems, such as needing glasses to correct poor vision. It is important to consult your child's physician for a diagnosis. The most common optic nerve glioma symptoms are:
- vision problems
- proptosis (eyeball protrusion), which occurs when the tumor is pushing the eye outward from the socket
- hormonal problems including abnormal growth and weight gain or loss
What causes optic nerve gliomas?
In most cases, the cause of optic nerve gliomas is not known. It’s important to understand that these and other brain tumors most often occur with no known cause. There’s nothing that could have been done or avoided that would have prevented the tumor from developing.
Optic nerve gliomas are more common in kids who have a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1). NF1 can cause tumors to form, and optic nerve gliomas occur in about 15 percent of children with this disease. In these cases, about two-thirds of the time, the tumor stops growing and disappears forever on its own without treatment.
Optic Nerve Glioma | Diagnosis & Treatments
How are optic nerve gliomas diagnosed?
The first step in treating your child is forming an accurate and complete diagnosis. Optic nerve gliomas can move throughout different parts of the brain and spine. There is a blood brain barrier that serves to keep infections out and also ends up keeping tumors in. It is very rare, below 5 percent of the time, for the glioma to move beyond the brain and spine.
Optic nerve gliomas are typically diagnosed using a combination of imaging and vision testing. Your child's doctor will likely order tests including:
- a complete physical examination
- computed tomography (CT or CAT) scan
- vision testing
- NF1 — If a child has neurofibromatosis 1, vision is followed closely
- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
There may be other diagnostic tests that your doctor will discuss with you depending on your child's individual situation. After we complete all necessary tests we will meet with you and your family to discuss the results, and outline possible treatment options.
What are the treatment options for optic nerve gliomas?
Your child's physician will determine a specific course of treatment based on several factors, including:
- your child's age, overall health, and medical history
- the type, location, and size of the tumor
- the extent of the disease
- your child's tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies
- how your child's doctors expects the disease to behave
Most often, optic nerve glioma is treated with chemotherapy — a drug treatment that works by interfering with the cancer cell's ability to grow or reproduce — to shrink the tumor and stabilize or improve vision.
If the tumor has affected your child's endocrine system (a network of gland controlling hormones), he or she may also need hormone replacement therapy, possibly for the rest of their life.
While surgery is not commonly performed for this type of brain tumor, it can sometimes relieve symptoms and/or improve vision. Our expert pediatric neural surgeons have a wealth of experience in determining whether surgery is the right option.
Most of the time, chemotherapy can stop the progression of optic nerve gliomas. But if your child's tumor is resistant to chemotherapy, radiation may also be an option.
