Optic neuropathy and exophthalmos edematous: symptom or complication?

Abstract

The article is concentrated on the mechanism of the development of optic neuropathy in patients with edematous proptosis one of the clinical forms of endocrine ophthalmopathy. All probable options for the pathogenesis of optic neuropathy are reviewed in detail: increased intraorbital pressure, compression of the optic nerve by enlarged extraocular muscles, the formation of the apical syndrome with compression of the optic nerve in the zone of the Zinns ring, an increase in the volume of orbital fat, tension of the optic nerve by an anteriorly shifted eye (exophthalmos), and arterial blood flow impairment in the ophthalmic artery, impaired venous blood flow in the orbit. Based on 103 follow-ups of patients with edematous proptosis and optic neuropathy (68 of them had initial optical neuropathy), the author offers her concept of the pathogenesis of optic neuropathy in patients with sub- and decompensated edematous proptosis, considering optic neuropathy as a complication of endocrine ophthalmopathy. The signs of optical neuropathy in the initial stage of its development are conceived.