Of 55 patients with pituitary adenomas or craniopharyngiomas treated with irradiation, a retrospective study revealed that 5 sustained a visual loss compatible with radiation damage to the optic nerve. No patient who received less than 250 rads/day fractions showed such visual loss. Within the range of total dosages used in this series, total dose was not an important determinant of this complication. The time to occurrence of visual disturbance ranged from 5 to 34 months following therapy.