Walsh & Hoyt: Intrinsic Tumors of the Brain Stem

Neuro-ophthalmic abnormalities are prominent among the symptoms and signs of tumors of the brain stem, and accurate observations of them are often important in topical localization. Tumors of the brain stem are usually designated as if they were confined to a specific region of the brain stemmesencephalic, pontine, or medullary. However, even when symptoms and signs appear to be related to one of these three well-defined regions of the brain stem, neuroimaging usually shows that the tumor is more extensive than the clinical findings indicate. It is common to find that a tumor is surrounding or infiltrating a brain stem structure that, during life, appeared to be functioning normally.