MRI manifestations of optic gliomas

Objective: To study the MRI findings of optic glioma. Methods: Axial, coronal and oblique sagittal high-resolution MR images of 15 patients with pathologically confirmed optic gliomas were analyzed. Results: The intraorbital optic nerves were involved in all patients including intraocular (3), intracanalicular (7), optic chiasm (4), and optic tract (1) involvement. The optic nerve was tortuous (5), fusiform (4), irregular (4), round (1), or dumbbell-shaped (1). The tumor was homogeneously (12) T₁ iso- or hypointense and T₂ iso- or hyperintense, cystic with heterogeneous signal intensities (3). There was no (4), slight (6), or marked (5) contrast enhancement in the lesions. Conclusions: MRI provides detailed information on the morphology, signal characteristics and enhancement of optic gliomas. (authors)