[Morphofunctional characteristics of the retina and optic nerve in endocrine ophthalmopathy]

Optic neuropathy is a serious complication of endocrine ophthalmopathy (EOP). The morphological characteristics of the optic nerve (provided by a Heidelberg, HRT II retinotomograph) were compared with the functional impairments of various canals of light, color, and contrast sensitivities (detected by an Offon programme complex, MBN, Moscow). There were decreases in contrast and color sensitivities just at the early stages of the disease and deteriorated functions of contract and color sensitivity canals as optic neuropathy progressed. The HRT II retinotomograph has shown a significant change in the thickness of optic nerve fibers, the area of the optic disk (OD), and the volume of the neuroretinal ring, which corresponds to the magnitude of clinical manifestations and the severity of OD lesion. The first retinal changes appear long before optic nerve compression at the orbital apex (orbital apex syndrome), which are caused by ischemic and hypoxic processes due to orbital soft tissue edema. The most sensitive test in detecting the latent stage of optic neuropathy in EOP is a color and contrast sensitivity topography test. In EOP, the morphological optic nerve changes correlate with functional impairments in different canals of the visual system, reflecting the stage of the disease.