Vision loss as a complication of gamma knife radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia
- 1Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
- 2Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
- Correspondence to: Dr Ayman Naseri MD Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA; aymannaserihotmail.com
- Accepted 16 March 2004
Gamma knife radiosurgery has been found useful for treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN).1–4 Although it is generally safe and well tolerated by most patients, adverse effects have been reported.1–6 Potential ocular complications include “dry eye” and “corneal numbness.”5,6 We describe a case of vision loss that occurred 9 months after gamma knife radiosurgery for TN.
Case report
A 68 year old man presented in September 2003 with 3 weeks of fluctuating blurred vision in the right eye. The blurring began 3 weeks earlier and had been preceded by complete numbness of the right side of his face for 1 week.
The patient’s medical history was remarkable for right sided TN that began in 1998, predominantly involving the V2 dermatome. It had been managed medically at first but eventually became incapacitating and led to hospital admission.
In December …
