Purpose: To report abnormalities of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with trans-synaptic degeneration.
Design: Observational case reports.
Methods: Two patients with congenital/long standing occipital lobe lesions who had asymptomatic homonymous hemianopic field defects were examined using OCT.
Results: In case 1, there was loss of RNFL in the projection of the nasal hemifovea temporally and the horizontal projection nasally in the right eye and thinning in the superior and inferior temporal arcades in the left eye corresponding to visual field abnormalities. In case 2, abnormalities in the RNFL pattern corresponded to the visual defects even though the field defect was incomplete.
Conclusion: OCT measurements of the RNFL provide useful information in the diagnosis of congenital/long standing occipital lobe lesions.