Optic nerve glioma and cerebellar astrocytoma in a patient with von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis.

A 2 and a half year-old boy with neurofibromatosis developed unilateral proptosis, decreased visual acuity, and optic disk edema. After the discovery and removal of an optic nerve glioma, the patient had ten years of excellent health until he began having headaches, nausea, and vomiting. He had papilledema in his remaining eye. At exploration, a cerebellar astrocytoma and a neuroglial hamartoma were removed. The occurrence of a glioma of right anterior visual pathway associated with other primary intracranial lesions in patients with neurofibromatosis was not previously reported.