Paraneoplastic optic neuropathy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma--report of a case

A 31-year-old Chinese man developed left optic neuritis with left sectorial field loss as a remote effect of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The field defect showed interesting fluctuations in response to the dosage of systemic steroid therapy. Neuropathologic findings from an exploratory craniotomy did not show any gross tumour mass around the left optic nerve nor any histological evidence of tumour infiltration. This case illustrates that "optic neuritis" could be a paraneoplastic effect of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.