[Meningioma of the optic nerve sheath with extensive intraocular growth]

We report on an elderly female patient with a diagnosis of an optic nerve sheath meningioma 11 years after onset of ophthalmological symptoms. 8 years after diagnosis and consecutive tumour-resection near the orbital apex the eye had to be enucleated because of a painful secondary glaucoma. Prior to enucleation computed tomography had revealed extra- and intraocular tumour.

Morphological investigations showed a neoplasia which had entered the eye via the optic nerve head. Besides severe secondary changes there was a diffuse tumour spread within the choroid and a "mushroom-like" growth towards the vitreous cavity. No differences between extra- and intraocular meningioma were found light- and electronmicroscopically.