Radial optic neurotomy for the treatment of acute functional impairment associated with optic nerve drusen
- 1Department of Ophthalmology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Mathildenstrasse 8, 80336 Munich, Germany
- 2Department of Ophthalmology, University of Cologne, Joseph-Stelzmann-Strasse 9, 50931 Cologne, Germany
- Correspondence to: Christos Haritoglou MD Department of Ophthalmology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Mathildenstrasse 8, 80336 Munich, Germany; Christos.Haritogloumed.uni-muenchen.de
- Accepted 2 November 2004
Radial optic neurotomy was recently introduced as a treatment option in patients with central retinal vein occlusion.1 As described by Opremcak et al,1 central retinal vein occlusion might be related to increased pressure on the central retinal artery and vein as well as on optic nerve fibres in the confined space provided by the scleral ring. It was therefore suggested that a relaxation of the scleral outlet by a radial optic neurotomy might be an effective surgical treatment option. In the light of this information we hypothesised, that radial optic neurotomy may also be applicable in patients with visual field defects and deterioration of visual acuity associated with optic nerve drusen, where compression induced damage to optic nerve fibres is the underlying pathogenetic principle2
Case report
A 27 year old female patient presented with extensive bilateral optic nerve drusen (fig 1A). While visual acuity was light perception on the right eye over 4 years, she had experienced an acute and rapid deterioration of visual acuity from 20/32 to 20/500 and a progressive visual field …
