Astrocytoma of the retina. Report of a case.

Astrocytomas are rarely found in the eye. In the literature which we have reviewed, we have found only five well-documented cases (McLean, 1937; Marks, Willis, and Anderson, I939; Boles, Naugle, and Samson, 1958; Foos, Straatsma, and Allen, I965; Cleasby, Fung, and Shekter, I967) which were not associated with tuberous sclerosis or with neurofibromatosis, and were not formed by an intraocular extension of an astrocytoma of the optic nerve. There are four additional reports of intraocular gliomas not associated with phakomatosis: one of these was considered to be derived from Muller's cells (Orton and Willis, I944); two others were believed to be oligodendrogliomas (Boniuk and Bishop, I969; Huggert and Hultquist, I947); the case described as an astrocytoma by Dejean (I934) also seems to correspond to an oligodendroglioma, which agrees with the opinion of Russell and Rubinstein (I97I). A retinal astrocytoma may present a clinical picture indistinguishable from that of a retinoblastoma. The rarity of this tumour and the difficulties of differential diagnosis are demonstrated by the fact that, in a survey of 500 children with suspected retinoblastoma (Howard and Ellsworth, I965a), not one case of astrocytoma was described. The present case is recorded in order to illustrate some of the clinical and pathological problems of diagnosis, and to add to the few existing reports of this condition.