Faculty Bibliography

Juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma of the optic nerve (glioma of childhood) usually grows slowly. Rapidly evolving proptosis is rare and reflects the accumulation of mucinous or hemorrhagic material within the tumor. Rapid proptosis is more common in those patients beyond the first two decades of life who have long-standing tumors. We studied a 26-year-old woman with rapid proptosis caused by a large blood-filled cyst in a pilocytic astrocytoma of the optic nerve. The cyst was surgically removed along with the intraorbital portion of the optic nerve

Metastatic carcinoma involving the anterior ocular segment is an exceedingly rare complication of disseminated malignant disease. Non-surgical treatment is ineffective and patients may require enucleation for relief of pain. We describe a response to chemotherapy in a patient having a metastasis from small cell carcinoma of the lung to the iris. By one month following commencement of therapy, complete gross tumor resolution had occurred

Congenital anomalies are rare in infancy following maternal varicella during pregnancy. Abnormalities do occur, however, and form a specific pattern including cicatrical skin lesions, atrophic limb, low birth weight, and chorioretinal scarring. We saw an infant who had immunologic evidence of varicella-zoster virus contact in utero, microphthalmos of one eye, and chorioretinal scarring of the fellow eye. Ophthalmologists confronted with such ocular anomalies in children should inquire about the possibility of maternal varicella during pregnancy. Conversely, infants born of mothers known to have had varicella during pregnancy should be examined for fundus abnormalities.

The glomus tumor is a benign, vascular, hamartomatous derivative of the glomus body, a normal intradermal arteriovenous anastomosis. Most glomus tumors are solitary, tender lesions of the nail bed and are found only rarely on the eyelid. Occasionally, glomus tumors assume a multiple form, wherein they are nontender. I report a unique case of multiple glomus tumors involving the face, palate, eyelid, and anterior orbit.