MRI restricted diffusion in optic nerve infarction after autologous fat transplantation

A 24-year-old woman reported blindness in the left eye upon awakening from fat autotransplantation to her forehead for soft tissue augmentation in the face. Clinical findings on the third postoperative day suggested ipsilateral ophthalmic artery occlusion with infarction of the optic nerve and retina. There were also clinical manifestations of a mild right hemiparesis. MRI diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) revealed restricted diffusion of the left optic nerve and left middle cerebral artery domain indicative of the cytotoxic edema of infarction. This is the second report of optic nerve infarction after fat autotransplantation to the forehead and the first report of DWI restricted diffusion in this setting.