Oligodendroglial Tumors

Abstract

Oligodendroglioma has not encountered great nosological difficulties, as it was recognized at the very beginning of modern studies [133, 129]; however, it has seen its boundaries widen or narrow depending on the interpretation of some histological aspects. As a consequence, its frequency varies greatly in the different series, ranging from 1.3% [627] to 9.6% [3803] of all intracranial tumors and from 5% [2901] to 18% [3803] of all gliomas. In the present series, they represent 4.2% and 9%, respectively. It is typically a tumor of adults, but the average age is difficult to ascertain, because there is a notable discrepancy between the time of onset of the first symptoms, diagnosis, and surgical intervention. From Cushing’s various series, an average age of 28 years has been derived. Other series have reported averages of 36 [798], 37 [2740], and 44 years [2994]. In Ziilch’s series [3803], the age peak was between 35 and 40 years. It is rather rare in infancy. However, cases have been reported [1034, 2271, 3797, 207, 3111, 2596, 3524, 2528] even in neonates or in breast-fed infants [3350, 1737].