Brain, Vol. 116, No. 6, 1465-1476, 1993
© 1993 Guarantors of Brain
research-article |
Nucleolar organizer regions in optic gliomas
1Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Boston, USA 2Department of Pathology (Neuropathology), Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, USA 3Department of Pathology, Children's Hospital Boston, USA 4Harvard Medical School Boston, USA 5University Eye Hospital Munich, Germany
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to: Leonard A. Levin, Department of Opthalmology, Univerity of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, F4/340 CSC, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792, USA.
The biological nature of optic gliomas is controversial, with some considering them benign hamartomatous lesions, and others believing them to be true neoplasms. We evaluated the use of colloid silver impregnation of nucleolar organizer region-associated proteins (AgNORs) in making this distinction. Thirty-one optic gliomas, 14 optic nerve meningiomas, and a single case of giant cell glioblastoma multiforme (monstrocellular glioma) of the optic chiasm were stained for AgNORs and counted in a masked fashion. The optic gliomas contained 2.01±0.09 AgNORs per nucleus, similar to that of optic nerve meningiomas (2.15±0.15) and our previously reported counts for diffuse fibrillary astrocytoma (2.22±0.10), and significantly more than that of reactive astrocytosis (1.18±0.02). Six of the seven optic gliomas examined had compound AgNORs, a feature associated with malignancy in other tumour types. AgNOR counts did not correlate with clinical features, including those seen during the post-operation course. These data suggest that optic gliomas may be true neoplasms, and not benign hamartomas.
Received January 12, 1993. Revised May 23, 1993. Accepted August 9, 1993.