RESUMO
PURPOSE: To report a case of pituitary adenoma in a patient with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and consequent rapid constriction of the visual field in each eye, which is atypical for either of these pathologies. OBSERVATIONS: A 45-year old male, with a long-standing history of RP, presented with rapid vision loss over 3 months. Examination revealed a severe drop in visual acuity and significant progression of concentric visual field constriction in each eye compared to 3 months prior. MRI revealed a pituitary macroadenoma compressing the optic chiasm. The patient underwent endoscopic trans-sphenoidal resection of the tumor and experienced partial recovery of visual acuity but not visual field. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPORTANCE: The visual field deficit in this patient was atypical for pituitary adenoma or optic neuropathy. The pattern was most consistent with RP, but the rate of progression was not. In a patient with chiasmal pathology in the setting of pre-existing retinopathy, visual field progression may not be limited exclusively to the bitemporal regions. Rapid constriction of the visual field in a patient with RP should prompt a work-up for alternative etiologies which includes neuro-imaging.
RESUMO
Se realizó un estudio prospectivo, descriptivo en 50 pacientes operados de catarata que acudieron a la consulta de oftalmología (especialidad de retina), en el período comprendido entre septiembre de 2002 hasta junio de 2004 en el Hospital Militar Central "Dr. Carlos J. Finlay", los cuales, en el posoperatorio presentaron una disminución de la agudeza visual por edema macular quístico. Se les aplicó tratamiento con ultra-alta frecuencia a 20 watt, en un período de 10 a 20 sesiones. Al finalizar el tratamiento, el 94 % de los pacientes mejoró la agudeza visual, lo que demostró la utilidad del método empleado en esta patología.
A prospective descriptive study was conducted in 50 patients operated on of cataract that visited the ophthalmological office (retina specialty) from September 2002 to June 2004 at "Dr Carlos J. Finlay" Central Military Hospital. These patients presented in the postoperataive a reduction of the visual acuity due to cystic macular edema. They received between 10 and 20 sessions of ultra-high frequency of 20 watts. At the end of the treatment, 94 % of the patients improved the visual acuity, which showed the usefulness of the method applied to this pathology.
