Gamma Knife Radiosurgery in the Management of Hypothalamic Glioma: A Case Report with Long-Term Follow-Up

Optic pathway/hypothalamic gliomas are rare pediatric brain tumors. The management paradigm for these challenging tumors includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgical resection, but the optimal management strategy remains elusive. Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) has emerged as a promising treatment for such lesions as documented by a small number of cases in the literature.

We present a rare case of hypothalamic glioma in a 13-year-old girl who was referred to our service due to growth of an incidentally diagnosed hypothalamic lesion following head injury at the age of 8 years. The lesion demonstrated hypointensity on T1- and hyperintensity on T2-weighted imaging without contrast enhancement. Given the growth of the lesion on serial imaging, a stereotactic biopsy was performed demonstrating low-grade glioma. The patient underwent GKRS treatment with a marginal dose of 15 Gy at 50% isodose line for a tumor volume of 2.2 mL. Annual radiological surveillance over the next 17 years demonstrated a gradual shrinkage of the lesion until it completely disappeared. The patient is currently a healthy 31-year-old female without any visual, endocrine, or neurocognitive deficits.

The outcome obtained after extended follow-up in our patient highlights the safety and efficacy of GKRS in the management of hypothalamic gliomas in pediatrics, which in turn can avoid potentially serious complications of surgery in this vulnerable patient population, especially in this sensitive location.