The doctor will perform a physical exam to determine the child's brain function, including tests of the reflexes, vision and hearing.
The doctor may use a computed tomography (CT) scan to create a picture of the tumor and to determine if cancer has spread. In CT imaging, a scanner moves around the body taking hundreds of X-ray images, which a computer then combines to make a three-dimensional image of the inside of the body. Sometimes a special dye is injected to help provide better detail.
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, which uses electromagnetic waves to create images of the brain and spinal cord, is preferable because this imaging technique creates more-detailed pictures.
The doctor may perform surgery to determine whether a brain tumor exists. The physician may also perform a biopsy of the brain tumor to see what type of cancer it is. To do this, a neurosurgeon will cut through the skull to remove a small piece of tissue from the brain to examine under a microscope for cancer cells. Sometimes the doctor will make a small hole in the skull and use a needle to extract a tissue sample.
Looking at biopsy tissue under a microscope will help the doctor determine what grade the tumors are. Childhood visual pathway and hypothalamic gliomas are usually low-grade lesions that develop from astrocytes. They do not grow or divide quickly and look more like normal cells. Malignant gliomas of the visual pathway are rare.
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