MRI surveillance of optic gliomas in patients with Neurofibromatosis – pro
Neurofibromatosis is a dominant autosomal genetic disorder with multi-organ involvement. Several professional bodies made recommendations for followup and surveillance, especially Hersh et al. They do not recommend routine MRI scans.
For patients with a known optic glioma, there is no guideline recommendations or large prospective studies that can provide surveillance recommendations. Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a life-long disease, which argues against routine screening without sufficient literature base. Some optic gliomas spontaneously regress, which is why they are usually treated expectantly. Consequently, routine MRI surveillance is not necessarily effective/ Common practice is to perform MRIs for children with known optic gliomas. Close followup with visual screening is generally recommended for all NF patients by guidelines. I was not able to find any recommendations for less than 6 monthly MRIs in the published literature. Therefore, 6 monthly surveillance has some support but not more frequent MRIs.
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Kelly , Weiss AH. Detection of tumor progression in optic pathway glioma with and without neurofibromatosis type 1. Neuro Oncol. 2013 Nov;15(11):1560-7