Recurrence of astrocytoma of optic nerve after 48 years

A tumour presumed to be a juvenile glioma of the optic nerve was removed by a Kronlein procedure from a 4-year old boy in 1925. In 1973 a severe proptosis made it necessary to remove the atrophic eye and a large retro-ocular tumour. Histological examination, supported by electron microscopy, showed the second tumour to be an anaplastic pilocytic astrocytoma. The possible histogenesis and this unusual behaviour pattern are discussed.