Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension and Anemia: A Matched Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: An association between idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) and anemia has been speculated from previous case reports and case series. Retrospective studies to date have not used matched case controls to compare standardized complete blood count (CBC) values for the presence of anemia. METHODS: At our tertiary care facility, 50 patients with IIH were matched with 50 case-control patients to compare CBC values from laboratory affiliates with standardized ranges. RESULTS: No significant difference was found for any CBC parameters for IIH vs control patients. For female IIH and control patients as well as male IIH patients, values for red blood cell count, hemoglobin (HGB), and hematocrit (HCT) tended to trend on the lower end of "normal" range, whereas this was not seen in male control patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this retrospective, matched case-control study, no significant association was found between IIH and anemia when comparing standardized CBC values. In accordance with previous studies, the prevalence of anemia may be relatively higher in the IIH population due to a prominent demographic overlap of females of child-bearing age.

Vitamin D and Selenium in a Thyroid Eye Disease Population in Texas.

There is growing evidence of thyroid eye disease association with nutritional deficiencies including selenium and vitamin D. We conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients with clinical diagnosis of TED seen at our clinic from 2016 to 2017. Thirty-five patients met inclusion criteria and had serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels available, and 19 had selenium levels available. 7/35 (20%) patients had vitamin D deficiency, and 11 (31%) had vitamin D insufficiency, but none had selenium deficiency. Although both selenium and vitamin D supplementation have been recommended for TED, further investigation is necessary to justify supplementation for patients with TED.

Supraorbital Nerve and Cavernous Sinus Invasion with Poorly Differentiated Carcinoma of Unknown Primary.

A 50-year-old man presented with a 4-month history of right-sided trigeminal neuropathy in the V1 and V2 distribution, right sixth nerve palsy and Horner syndrome. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed enhancement and thickening along the right ophthalmic nerve and supraorbital nerve and fullness at the right cavernous sinus extending to Meckel's cave. Evaluation for a primary tumour was negative. Cavernous sinus biopsy showed infiltrating poorly differentiated carcinoma; the patient underwent radiation therapy. To our knowledge this is the only case of poorly differentiated carcinoma involving the supraorbital nerve presenting with trigeminal neuropathy and Horner syndrome in the English ophthalmic literature.

Decompensated Esophoria as a Benign Cause of Acquired Esotropia.

PURPOSE: To determine informative clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics of patients with symptomatic adult acquired, comitant esotropia due to decompensated esophoria. DESIGN: Retrospective, interventional case series. METHODS: Setting: Institutional. STUDY POPULATION: Patients with decompensated esophoria who developed acute acquired comitant esotropia. OBSERVATION PROCEDURES: Ophthalmic examination, stereopsis, and strabismus measurements at distance and near using prism cover tests in diagnostic gaze positions were performed. Patients underwent high-resolution surface coil MRI of extraocular muscles with target fixation, and MRI of the brain. Strabismus surgery was performed under topical anesthesia with adjustable sutures wherever possible. Paired t testing was used to evaluate postoperative changes with 0.05 considered significant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Clinical and MRI characteristics, and surgical outcome of patients with decompensated esophoria. RESULTS: Eight cases were identified involving subjects of mean age 29 ± 9.4 (range: 20-48) years having gradually progressive intermittent horizontal, binocular diplopia for 10 months to 3 years. Mean preoperative esotropia was 31 ± 12 Δ at distance and 29 ± 12 Δ at near, although this was intermittent in 5 patients who exhibited enhanced fusional divergence. Neurologic evaluation and MRI of brain, orbits, and extraocular muscles were unremarkable in all cases. Orthotropia was successfully restored in all by standard or enhanced doses of bimedial rectus muscle recession surgery, improving mean stereoacuity from 535 to 68 arc seconds, although 5 patients exhibited 2-14 Δ asymptomatic residual esophoria. CONCLUSION: Decompensated esophoria is a benign clinical entity causing acute, acquired, comitant esotropia treatable with enhanced medial rectus recession.

Positive Visual Phenomena Following Implantation of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis.

A 62-year-old female who was legally blind secondary to retinitis pigmentosa (RP) developed new positive visual phenomena (PVP) ("visual storms") following implantation of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (Second Sight Medical Products, Sylmar, CA). The potential mechanisms for the exacerbating PVP or hallucinatory release phenomena are proposed. Clinicians should be aware of these visual phenomena in patients with RP and the potential for worsening of or de novo development of PVP in patients considering the Argus II implant. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2017;48:1022-1025.].

Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy: cause, effect, and management.

Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is the most common form of ischemic optic neuropathy and the second most common optic neuropathy. Patients are generally over the age of 50 years with vasculopathic risk factors (eg, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obstructive sleep apnea). The exact mechanism of NAION is not fully understood. In addition, several treatment options have been proposed. This article summarizes the current literature on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of NAION.

Ethambutol optic neuropathy.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We provide a summary of the epidemiology, clinical findings, management and outcomes of ethambutol-induced optic neuropathy (EON). Ethambutol-induced optic neuropathy is a well-known, potentially irreversible, blinding but largely preventable disease. Clinicians should be aware of the importance of patient and physician education as well as timely and appropriate screening. RECENT FINDINGS: Two of the largest epidemiologic studies investigating EON to date showed the prevalence of EON in all patients taking ethambutol to be between 0.7 and 1.29%, a value consistent with previous reports of patients taking the doses recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Several studies evaluated the utility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in screening for EON. These showed decreased retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with clinically significant EON, but mixed results in their ability to detect such changes in patients taking ethambutol without visual symptoms. SUMMARY: Ethambutol-induced optic neuropathy is a well-known and devastating complication of ethambutol therapy. It may occur in approximately 1% of patients taking ethambutol at the WHO recommended doses, though the risk increases substantially with increased dose. All patients on ethambutol should receive regular screening by an ophthalmologist including formal visual field testing. Visual evoked potentials and OCT may be helpful for EON screening, but more research is needed to clarify their clinical usefulness. Patients who develop signs or symptoms of EON should be referred to the ethambutol-prescribing physician immediately for discontinuation or a reduction in ethambutol dosing.

Stabilization of Visual Function After Optic Nerve Sheath Fenestration for Optic Nerve Meningocele.

A 10-year-old boy with bilateral colobomatous cavitary disc anomalies presented with a 3-month history of vision loss in his right eye. MRI of the head and orbit revealed bilateral tubular cystic enlargement of the optic nerve/optic sheath complex with thickening of the optic nerves without inflammation or neoplasm, suggestive of bilateral optic nerve meningocele. An optic nerve sheath fenestration was performed OD, and he experienced an improvement and stabilization of vision in his right eye during a 1-year follow-up period. The authors recommend that surgical decompression, particularly optic nerve sheath fenestration, should be considered in cases with progressive vision loss due to optic nerve meningocele.