Successful resection of the recurrence of a cavernous malformation of the optic chiasm

Abstract

Martin Scholz, Albrecht Harders, Sebastian Lücke, Ioannis Pechlivanis, Martin Engelhardt, Kirsten SchmiederDepartment of Neurosurgery, Ruhr-University Bochum, Knappschaftskrankenhaus, GermanyAbstract: The case of a 33-year-old female who suffered from a recurrence of an intrachiasmatic cavernous malformation is presented. She had already undergone surgery in 1991 and 2001 and was admitted to our hospital with reduced vision in the right eye. After MRI, and diagnosis of recurrence of the cavernoma, a neurosurgical operation was performed using the pterional approach. The intraoperative situation was documented with micro photographs. The postoperative course was uneventful. The female described a minimal improvement of her vision. No postoperative complications were observed. To our knowledge, microsurgically complete extirpation of a recurrence of an intrachiasmatic cavernoma has not yet been reported in the literature.Keywords: optic chiasm, pterional approach, cavernous malformation