A Rare Case of Posterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy after Appendicectomy

Ischemic optic neuropathy is classified into anterior and posterior ischemic optic neuropathy depending upon the part of optic nerve involved. In anterior optic neuropathy, optic nerve head is involved and in posterior ischemic optic neuropathy(PION) retrobulbar portion is involved. There is sudden loss of vision in both the entities but there are optic disc changes in anterior optic neuropathy while in posterior ischemic optic neuropathy optic disc is normal initially. Etiologically, posterior ischemic optic neuropathy is divided into non arteritic non-surgical, arteritic and perioperative non arteritic posterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

Cushing Syndrome: A Potential Risk of Bilateral Postoperative Ischemic Optic Neuropathy after Lumbar Fusion / 대한신경손상학회지

This is a report of a 58-year-old female with Cushing syndrome who underwent posterior lumbar fusion and lost both her vision completely. She was diagnosed with posterior ischemic optic neuropathy. Cushingoid features such as buffalo hump and central obesity might have attributed in triggering posterior ischemic optic neuropathy. When laid prone for surgery, perioperative high abdominal pressure causes venous hypertension leading to increase amount of blood loss. To compensate, infusion of large quantities of intravenous fluids is necessary which leads to hemodilution which decreases ocular perfusion pressure. Hypercoagulability of Cushing syndrome is also potentially a risk factor of this condition which increases the incidence of venous thromboembolism. For there is no known effective treatment for posterior ischemic optic neuropathy, means to prevent this complication must be strategically reviewed. When performing long spine surgery on patient who has Cushing syndrome or cushingoid features, caution must be taken to avoid this devastating complication.

Research advance of posterior ischemic optic neuropathy / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

Posterior ischemic optic neuropathy is a kind of ischemic optic neuropathy, the incidence rate of which is lower with less obviously clinical features, less positive signs and more difficultly diagnosis when compared with anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.Meanwhile, therapeutic method of posterior ischemic optic neuropathy has remained controversial.This article will summarize the research development of the auxiliary examination, diagnosis, differential diagnosis and therapeutic method of posterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

A Case of Posterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Accompanied by Carotid Artery Plaque

PURPOSE: To report a case of posterior ischemic optic neuropathy accompanied by carotid artery plaque in a patient with retrobulbar optic neuritis. CASE SUMMARY: A 48-year-old man visited our clinic complaining of headache, decreasing visual acuity and defect of inferior visual field in his left eye for 3 days. The best corrected visual acuity was 1.0 in the right eye and 0.1 in the left eye. The anterior segment state, intraocular pressure, fundus examination and optical coherence tomography were normal in both eyes. Relative afferent pupillary defect, color vision deficiency and total scotoma were observed in his left eye. The results of the laboratory test and brain magnetic resonance imaging were normal. He was discharged from the hospital after 3 days of systemic steroid treatment on the basis of retrobulbar optic neuritis. A week later, fluorescent angiography and carotid ultrasonography were performed because of his history memory loss and left upper limb weakness before admission. A focal filling defect of the peripapillary area was found on fluorescent angiography. A plaque with a thickness of 1.9 mm and a length of 1.4 cm was found on carotid ultrasonography. After 6 months, the best corrected visual acuity was 0.4 in the left eye and the visual field showed a partially improved defect. CONCLUSIONS: Fluorescent angiography is recommended for potential posterior ischemic optic neuropathy in patients with retrobulbar optic neuritis, even though it is rare. Carotid ultrasonography is useful in finding atherosclerosis to prevent stroke or cardiovascular disease if ischemic cause is suspected on fluorescent angiography.

Management of ischemic optic neuropathies.

Ischemic optic neuropathies (IONs) consist primarily of two types: anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) and posterior ischemic optic neuropathy (PION). AION comprises arteritic AION (A-AION: due to giant cell arteritis) and non-arteritic AION (NA-AION: due to other causes). PION consists of arteritic PION (A-PION: due to giant cell arteritis), non-arteritic PION (NA-PION: due to other causes), and surgical PION (a complication of several systemic surgical procedures). These five types of ION are distinct clinical entities etiologically, pathogenetically, clinically and from the management point of view. In the management of AION, the first crucial step with patients aged 50 and over is to identify immediately whether it is arteritic or not because A-AION is an ophthalmic emergency and requires urgent treatment with high-dose steroid therapy to prevent any further visual loss in one or both eyes. Patients with NA-AION, when treated with systemic corticosteroid therapy within first 2 weeks of onset, had significantly better visual outcome than untreated ones. Systemic risk factors, particularly nocturnal arterial hypotension, play major roles in the development of NA-AION; management of them is essential in its prevention and management. NA-PION patients, when treated with high-dose systemic steroid therapy during the very early stages of the disease, showed significant improvement in visual acuity and visual fields, compared to untreated eyes. A-PION, like A-AION, requires urgent treatment with high-dose steroid therapy to prevent any further visual loss in one or both eyes. There is no satisfactory treatment for surgical PION, except to take prophylactic measures to prevent its development.

A Case of Posterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy and Abducens Nerve Palsy

PURPOSE: To report a case of a patient with posterior ischemic optic neuropathy and abducens nerve palsy who responded to steroid therapy. CASE SUMMARY: A 47-year-old man visited our clinic with decreasing visual acuity and abduction limitation in his right eye, which suddenly started 4 days earlier. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 20/250 in the right eye and 20/20 in the left eye. Fundus examination showed normal in both eyes, and relative afferent pupillary defect was positive in the right eye. The visual field test showed a right central scotoma with inferior altitudinal field defect. In addition, the brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was done. Orbit MRI, fluorescein angiography (FAG), and carotid ultrasonography results were normal. Therefore, the patient was diagnosed with non-arteritic posterior ischemic optic neuropathy. The systemic steroid therapy was started and tapered over a period of 5 weeks. At one month after treatment, the BCVA was 20/20 and abduction limitation in the right eye improved.