ABSTRACT
Oligodendroglioma (or oligodendroglial tumor) arises from oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS). As the second most common type of glioma after astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma represents 10"–30" of gliomas diagnosed. Oligodendroglioma may affect people of any age, with peak incidence in the fourth through sixth decades; pediatric cases are rarely encountered. Clinical manifestations of oligodendroglioma include seizures, headache, visual disturbances, and papilledema, weakness, cranial nerve palsy, irritability, apnea, hemiparesis, sensory neglect, and cognitive disorders. The initial diagnosis of oligodendrogliomas relies largely on CT and MRI assessment. While CT is more sensitive to calcification, MRI is superior for determining tumor extent and cortical involvement. Maximal safe surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy is considered the standard treatment for oligodendroglioma. The median overall survival for patients with anaplastic oligodendroglioma is approximately 4.5 years. Favorable clinical prognostic factors for oligodendrogliomas include younger age, good performance status, frontal lobe location, and presence of 1p/19q co-deletion.
