Bilateral Posterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy associated with Hemodialysis in a patient with Chronic Renal Failure

ABSTRACT

Bilateral posterior ischemic optic neuropathy (PION) has rarely been documented in chronic renal failure (CRF). A 78-year-old woman with CRF, who had undergone hemodialysis for 14 years, was admitted due to rapidly progressive visual loss. Her pupils were unreactive to light, but ocular motility and fundoscopic examinations were normal. A brain MRI with angiogram revealed no abnormality and a VEP showed no wave formation bilaterally. Intravenous corticosteroid therapy was conducted without improvement. We report a case of bilateral PION associated with CRF, presumably due to chronic hypotension and anemia occurring during hemodialysis.