A case of presumed bilateral central retinal artery occlusion following methanol poisoning

Abstract

It is well established that methanol poisoning induces commonly acute toxic optic neuropathy. Herein, we describe a case of unusual ocular manifestation. A 35-year-old male presented with painless, bilateral, and simultaneous sudden onset of severe visual loss following methanol poisoning. The visual acuity was 20/200 in the right eye and limited to a finger count in the left eye. Fundus color photography showed a bilateral sub-total central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO). A methanolemia carried out following the hemodialysis returned to 0.2g/l. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case reporting CRAO after methanol poisoning. Our report under-scores the importance of early ophthalmic examination of patients with acute methanol poisoning and suggests that it could induce acute CRAO because of retinal artery vasospasm.