Visual pathway tumor: a heterogeneous tumor with a variable clinical course.

The aim of the study was to delineate the clinical characteristics of visual pathway tumor in children without neurofibromatosis-I. The authors reviewed the charts of all patients meeting these criteria (n = 12) who were followed in their center over a 13 year period. In 8 patients the disease was relentlessly progressive and imaging showed a chiasmatic/hypothalamic, exophytic globular lesion. The remainder had a benign course with long periods of tumor stability; one showed some spontaneous visual improvement. The lesions of the latter subgroup were multilobular with elongated posterior extension into the optic tract. This differentiation, according to the imaging findings, may have significant therapeutic implications. In the first type, every effort should be made to arrest the disease and decrease the size of the lesion, whereas in the second despite decreased visual ability careful observation in the appropriate approach. There are as yet no Known biological markers to better delineate these two types of tumor behavior: