GLIOMA OF THE OPTIC NERVE

Abstract

While 1 or 2 cases of primary glioma of the optic nerve are reported each year in the literature, it is the clinical aspect that almost always predominates in these reports. Relatively little has been said regarding the pathologic study and classification of these tumors1since the introduction of the impregnation methods of Cajal and del Rio-Hortega. Save for Dandy's paper2in 1922, there has been no critical evaluation of the surgical procedures. It is, then, with the pathologic aspect and also with the operative approach that this paper is chiefly concerned. In general, these tumors are divided into two large groups : (1) the dural endotheliomas or meningiomas, which arise from the fibrous sheath of the nerve, and (2) the gliomas, which arise from the neuroglial elements within the nerve itself. Clinically, the meningiomas seem to be more malignant than the gliomas, a fact recognized by Hudson3