Neuro-Ophthalmic Complications in Patients Treated With CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 Checkpoint Blockade.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors have proven to be effective and have become increasingly popular treatment options for metastatic melanoma and other cancers. These agents work by enhancing autologous antitumor immune responses. Immune-related ophthalmologic complications have been reported in association with checkpoint inhibitor use but remain incompletely characterized. This study seeks to investigate and further characterize the neuro-ophthalmic and ocular complications of immune checkpoint blockade treatment. METHODS: A survey was distributed through the secure electronic data collection tool REDCap to neuro-ophthalmology specialists in the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society listserv. The study received human subjects approval through the University of California at Los Angeles Institutional Review Board. The survey identified patients sent for neuro-ophthalmic consultation while receiving one or more of a PD-1 inhibitor (pembrolizumab, nivolumab, or cemiplimab); PD-L1 inhibitor (atezolizumab, avelumab, or durvalumab); or the CTLA-4 inhibitor ipilimumab. Thirty-one patients from 14 institutions were identified. Patient demographics, neuro-ophthalmic diagnosis, diagnostic testing, severity, treatment, clinical response, checkpoint inhibitor drug used, and cancer diagnosis was obtained. RESULTS: The checkpoint inhibitors used in these patients included pembrolizumab (12/31), nivolumab (6/31), combined ipilimumab with nivolumab (7/31, one of whom also received pembrolizumab during their course of treatment), durvalumab (3/31), ipilimumab (2/31), and cemiplimab (1/31). Malignant melanoma (16/31) or nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (6/31) were the most common malignancies. The median time between first drug administration and the time of ophthalmological symptom onset was 14.5 weeks. Eleven patients had involvement of the optic nerve, 7 patients had inflammatory orbital or extraocular muscle involvement, 6 patients had ocular involvement from neuromuscular junction dysfunction, 4 patients had cranial nerve palsy, and 4 patients had non neuro-ophthalmic complications. Use of systemic corticosteroids with or without stopping the checkpoint inhibitor resulted in improvement of most patients with optic neuropathy, and variable improvement for the other ophthalmic conditions. CONCLUSION: This study describes the variable neuro-ophthalmic adverse events associated with use of immune checkpoint inhibitors and contributes a more thorough understanding of their clinical presentations and treatment outcomes. We expect this will increase awareness of these drug complications and guide specialists in the care of these patients.

IgG4-related ophthalmic disease.

IgG4-related disease is a fibro-inflammatory condition with tendency to form tumors with inflammatory infiltrate with IgG4 rich plasma cells and elevation of IgG4 level in serum, which may affect virtually every organ and tissue in the organism. IgG4-related ophthalmic disease may present as dacryoadenitis, myositis, other orbital tissues, hypophysitis or pachymeningitis causing cranial neuropathies. The diagnosis of IgG4-related disease is based on a typical clinical scenario, supportive laboratory data, expected radiological characteristics and distinct histopathological and immunohistochemical features. Corticosteroid followed by the use of long-term immunosuppressive therapy is the most commonly attempted treatment.

Transient ocular motor nerve palsies associated with presumed cranial nerve schwannomas.

BACKGROUND: Cranial nerve schwannomas are radiologically characterized by nodular cranial nerve enhancement on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Schwannomas typically present with gradually progressive symptoms, but isolated reports have suggested that schwannomas may cause fluctuating symptoms as well. METHODS: This is a report of ten cases of presumed cranial nerve schwannoma that presented with transient or recurring ocular motor nerve deficits. RESULTS: Schwannomas of the third, fourth, and fifth nerves resulted in fluctuating deficits of all 3 ocular motor nerves. Persistent nodular cranial nerve enhancement was present on sequential MRI studies. Several episodes of transient oculomotor (III) deficts were associated with headaches, mimicking ophthalmoplegic migraine. CONCLUSIONS: Cranial nerve schwannomas may result in relapsing and remitting cranial nerve symptoms.

IgG4-related inflammatory pseudotumor of the central nervous system responsive to mycophenolate mofetil.

Orbital apex and skull base masses often present with neuro-ophthalmic signs and symptoms. Though the localization of these syndromes and visualization of the responsible lesion on imaging is typically straightforward, definitive diagnosis usually relies on biopsy. Immunohistochemistry is important for categorization and treatment planning. IgG4-related disease is emerging as a pathologically defined inflammatory process that can occur in multiple organ systems. We present two patients with extensive inflammatory mass lesions of the central nervous system with immunohistochemistry positive for IgG4 and negative for ALK-1 as examples of meningeal based IgG4-related inflammatory pseudotumors. In both patients, there was treatment response to mycophenolate mofetil.

Nonvestibulocochlear cranial nerve schwannomas.

OPINION STATEMENT: Nonvestibulocochlear cranial nerve schwannomas traditionally have been managed by surgical excision. Although debulking surgery is still considered the first treatment option for larger tumors, stereotactic radiosurgery is now preferred for smaller tumors because of its high tumor control rate and low treatment-related morbidity. Furthermore, an initial period of radiologic and clinical observation following the diagnosis should be strongly considered for smaller tumors because some may not grow or may grow at a slow rate. Medical management of tumor-associated symptoms (when present) should not be ignored. Most importantly, the time has come to embark on the first randomized controlled trials comparing clinical and radiologic observation, surgery, and radiosurgery in the management of cranial nerve schwannomas.

Interferon-beta treatment in multiple sclerosis attenuates inflammatory gene expression through inducible activity of the phosphatase SHP-1.

Interferon-beta is a current treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Interferon-beta is thought to exert its therapeutic effects on MS by down-modulating the immune response by multiple potential pathways. Here, we document that treatment of MS patients with interferon beta-1a (Rebif) results in a significant increase in the levels and function of the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 in PBMCs. SHP-1 is a crucial negative regulator of cytokine signaling, inflammatory gene expression, and CNS demyelination as evidenced in mice deficient in SHP-1. In order to examine the functional significance of SHP-1 induction in MS PBMCs, we analyzed the activity of proinflammatory signaling molecules STAT1, STAT6, and NF-kappaB, which are known SHP-1 targets. Interferon-beta treatment in vivo resulted in decreased NF-kappaB and STAT6 activation and increased STAT1 activation. Further analysis in vitro showed that cultured PBMCs of MS patients and normal subjects had a significant SHP-1 induction following interferon-beta treatment that correlated with decreased NF-kappaB and STAT6 activation. Most importantly, experimental depletion of SHP-1 in cultured PBMCs abolished the anti-inflammatory effects of interferon-beta treatment, indicating that SHP-1 is a predominant mediator of interferon-beta activity. In conclusion, interferon-beta treatment upregulates SHP-1 expression resulting in decreased transcription factor activation and inflammatory gene expression important in MS pathogenesis.

Stereotactic radiosurgery in two cases of presumed fourth cranial nerve schwannoma.

A 47-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man with gradually progressive fourth cranial nerve palsy underwent stereotactic radiosurgery for presumed fourth cranial nerve schwannomas with the gamma knife at a marginal tumor dose of 14 and 13 Gy, respectively. In one patient, the ocular misalignment disappeared; in the other patient, it stabilized. MRI showed shrinkage of the tumors. These patients represent the second and third reported cases of presumed fourth cranial nerve schwannoma treated with radiosurgery and the first cases with substantial follow-up information.

SHP-1 deficiency and increased inflammatory gene expression in PBMCs of multiple sclerosis patients.

Recent studies in mice have demonstrated that the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 is a crucial negative regulator of cytokine signaling, inflammatory gene expression, and demyelination in central nervous system. The present study investigates a possible similar role for SHP-1 in the human disease multiple sclerosis (MS). The levels of SHP-1 protein and mRNA in PBMCs of MS patients were significantly lower compared to normal subjects. Moreover, promoter II transcripts, expressed from one of two known promoters, were selectively deficient in MS patients. To examine functional consequences of the lower SHP-1 in PBMCs of MS patients, we measured the intracellular levels of phosphorylated STAT6 (pSTAT6). As expected, MS patients had significantly higher levels of pSTAT6. Accordingly, siRNA to SHP-1 effectively increased the levels of pSTAT6 in PBMCs of controls to levels equal to MS patients. Additionally, transduction of PBMCs with a lentiviral vector expressing SHP-1 lowered pSTAT6 levels. Finally, multiple STAT6-responsive inflammatory genes were increased in PBMCs of MS patients relative to PBMCs of normal subjects. Thus, PBMCs of MS patients display a stable deficiency of SHP-1 expression, heightened STAT6 phosphorylation, and an enhanced state of activation relevant to the mechanisms of inflammatory demyelination.

Multiple bilateral extraocular muscle metastases as the initial manifestation of breast cancer.

A 75-year-old woman had gradually progressive binocular diplopia and 2 months later had breast cancer diagnosed. Examination showed bilateral external ophthalmoplegia with lid retraction and lag and no pupillary abnormalities. Orbital magnetic resonance imaging showed enlargement and enhancement of all extraocular muscles bilaterally. A right orbital biopsy was consistent with metastatic breast carcinoma. Positron emission tomography, bone scan, and computed tomography of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis failed to disclose other evidence of breast cancer metastases. It is unusual to encounter metastatic breast cancer affecting every extraocular muscle before the diagnosis of the primary carcinoma.

Clinical features associated with lesions other than pituitary adenoma in patients with an optic chiasmal syndrome.

PURPOSE: Pituitary adenomas are the most common cause of an optic chiasmal syndrome, and treatment of these lesions is considerably different from the treatment of most of the other lesions in this region. Although the diagnosis of a pituitary adenoma is usually inferred from the results of neuroimaging, lesions other than pituitary adenomas can have an appearance that suggests an adenoma. The objective of our study was to determine whether there are clinical findings that suggest a lesion producing a chiasmal syndrome is something other than a pituitary adenoma. DESIGN: Retrospective, case-controlled, analysis of medical record data. METHODS: The records of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Unit of the Wilmer Eye Institute were searched for patients with a chiasmal syndrome who had been evaluated before treatment and for whom pathologic or laboratory confirmation of the etiology was available. Presenting clinical features of these patients were recorded, and analyses with both a single variable and multiple variables were performed to determine whether there were any features that could identify with a high degree of probability the etiology of the lesion producing the syndrome. RESULTS: The search revealed 149 patients who met the inclusion criteria, including 90 patients with pituitary adenomas and 59 patients with other lesions. Variables that were highly suggestive of an etiology other than pituitary adenoma included symptomatic visual loss, younger age, unilateral optic disk pallor, a relative afferent pupillary defect, and an absolute or a complete visual field defect or one was greater inferiorly than superiorly. CONCLUSION: Although no single clinical feature can be used to determine the specific nature of a lesion that produces an optic chiasmal syndrome, certain features are highly suggestive of an etiology other than pituitary adenoma. When these features are present, the likelihood that a suprasellar lesion is a pituitary adenoma is much lower, regardless of the appearance on neuroimaging.

Therapies with potential toxicity of neuro-ophthalmic interest.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Several therapies have potential neuro-ophthalmic or ophthalmic complications. We reviewed the recent literature for relevant therapies that affect ocular function. In this review, we discuss a variety of toxic effects of antiepileptic drugs, endocrine drugs, and miscellaneous therapies (intravitreal silicone oil and TNF-alpha inhibitors). RECENT FINDINGS: The pathogenesis of these side effects is quite heterogeneous affecting visual sensory function at the levels of the ciliary body, retina, optic nerve and chiasm, and central visual pathways. SUMMARY: Appropriate management requires prompt recognition of these associations. Practitioners should be familiar with these neuro-ophthalmic manifestations because they may present in the course of daily practice.