Microcystic ganglioglioma treated by partial removal and radiation therapy

A 35-year-old woman presented with visual hyperacuity and seizures. Radionuclide and CT scans revealed a frontal lobe mass lesion consistent with an astrocytoma. Subtotal removal was necessary due to proximity of the tumor to the motor strip. Initial histopatho logic interpretation was malignant glioma (astrocytoma Grade 2 or 3). Megavoltage irradiation was delivered to a midsagittal dose of 6300 rad in seven weeks. Subsequent review of the slides revealed the tumor to be a microcystic ganglioglioma. The patient is well five and one-half years after treatment. It is important to separate these low grade neoplasms from the more ominous astrocytomas in regard to prognosis after resection and irradiation.