[Giant optic glioma--case report (author's transl)].

A 3 1/2-year-old girl with a huge optic glioma was reported. On February 26, 1978, she was hospitalized for signs of increased intracranial pressure, namely headache, vomiting and consciousness disturbance. Before admission she did not complain of her visual disturbance. A huge mass lesion in the subfrontal-suprasellar region was found by neuroradiological examination. The operation was performed on March 7, 1978, and the tumor arising from the right optic nerve, about 170 grams in weight, was totally removed in piecemeals. Histopathological diagnosis was pilocytic astrocytoma. Immediately after operation diabetes insipidus and hypernatremia developed, but two months later these symptoms disappeared. Post-operative CT scan demonstrated no mass lesion in the subfrontal-suprasellar region. After radiation therapy, she was discharged with slight left hemiparesis on August 31, 1978. Though her right eye was blind, visual acuity remained 0.2 in the left eye. No other neurologic deficits could be found.