Anterior visual pathway cavernous malformations

Optic chiasmal cavernous angioma: A rare suprasellar vascular malformation

“…Optic pathway CMs are rare benign vascular lesions, representing less than 1% of all CNS CMs. [ 13 29 ] They are commonly discovered between the 2 nd and 4 th decades of life. Optic pathway CMs affect both genders, with a slight female predominance.…”

“…Acute visual disturbance, headache, nausea, and retroorbital pain, collectively known as “chiasmal apoplexy,” represent the most commonly encountered symptoms among optic pathway CM patients. [ 13 14 29 ] These symptoms typically occur after a period of transient blurry vision and headaches. In addition, hypopituitarism from direct compression of the infundibulum has been reported in the literature.…”

“…It is not uncommon for them to be misdiagnosed as optic neuritis, and a great number of these patients receive corticosteroid therapy. [ 5 29 ] Interestingly, some of those patients will spontaneously recover from their symptoms, misattributing it to the effects of the corticosteroid therapy. However, to date, there is no evidence supporting corticosteroid therapy in CM.…”

“…CMs of the optic pathway are commonly misdiagnosed as optic neuritis, optic glioma, meningioma, craniopharyngioma, venous angioma, arteriovenous malformation, thrombosed aneurysm, and pituitary apoplexy. [ 13 29 ] In our patient, we initially had a differential diagnosis of craniopharyngioma, glioma, or germ cell tumor. Therefore, it is important to include CM in the differential diagnosis of suprasellar optic pathway lesions.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, less than 80 cases have been reported in the literature. [ 13 29 ] Herein, we report a rare case of suprasellar optic pathway CM in a 33-year-old female. In addition, a literature review on suprasellar optic pathway CMs is presented.…”