[Cerebral gliomatosis. A report of three cases and review of the literature].

INTRODUCTION

Cerebral gliomatosis is an infiltrating, non destructive process of glial type, with a diffuse growth pattern and great clinical variation in the initial symptoms. Confirmation of the diagnosis requires histological study of the lesion showing infiltration by well differentiated mature astrocytes (atypical forms are rare). We report three cases diagnosed by our department over the past five years.

CASE REPORTS

Case1. A 64 year old man presented with olfactory crises and right homonymous hemianopsia. On cerebral MR there was an extensive left occipital cortico subcortical lesion infiltrating the genum of the corpus callosum, with irregular uptake of contrast material. CASE REPORT 2: A 68 year old woman was admitted complaining of paresia of her right arm which had worsened over the past two months. On MR there was an extensive left paraventricular subcortical lesion, involving the anterior temporal and capsulo lenticular regions. Case 3. A 63 year old woman complained of staggering gait and headache. On examination she had a right facial palsy and intention tremor of her right arm. All the patients died. In all cases stereotactic biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of cerebral gliomatosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Cerebral gliomatosis is an infiltrating glial disorder with a poor prognosis. The clinical diagnosis is suggested on cerebral MR studies and confirmed on histological studies.