[A case of presumed radiation optic neuropathy]

A case of a 37-year-old woman with radiation optic neuropathy was reported. She had undergone subtotal removal of the right orbital tumor (adenoid cystic carcinoma) by frontal craniotomy, followed by radiation therapy (64Gy). She had been quite well until she noticed a gradual loss of vision in her right eye 18 months later. Her visual acuity was 0.2 in the right eye and 1.5 in the left eye with right relative afferent pupillary defect and dense central scotoma. Funduscopy revealed optic disc swelling with surrounding retinal edema and small hemorrhage in the right eye. Fluorescein angiography revealed a hypoperfusion area and obstruction of the small retinal vessels in the posterior pole, but this was not large enough to explain the dense central scotoma. Although prednisolone therapy gave temporary improvement, the visual function gradually deteriorated.