Retrograde degeneration of visual pathway

Abstract

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) gives the opportunity to examine retrograde degeneration of visual pathway damaged at various levels. To estimate OCT data on retrograde degeneration of visual pathway damaged at various levels. Ganglion cell layer (GCL) thickness was measured by OCT in 79 patients with visual pathway damaged at various levels and known duration of visual disturbances. Twenty-One patients were diagnosed with traumatic lesions of the optic nerves and/or chiasma. Fifty-eight patients had retro-genicular visual pathway damage. Thirty-three patients were examined for postoperative homonymous hemianopia after surgery for drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy. Twenty-five patients were diagnosed with occipital lobe damage following stroke (12 patients), surgery for arteriovenous malformation (11 patients) and traumatic brain injury (2 patients). All patients underwent assessment of visual acuity, automatic static perimetry, MRI/CT of the brain. Retinal ganglion cell complex was analyzed during OCT. GCL thinning following anterior visual pathway damage was detected in 20 out of 21 patients after ≥22 days. In case of post-genicular visual pathway damage, GCL thinning was found in 25 out of 58 patients (9 out of 33 ones after surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy and 16 out of 25 patients with occipital lobe lesion). After surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy, minimum period until GCL thinning detection after previous visual pathway damage was 3 months, in case of occipital lobe lesion - 5 months. Retrograde visual pathway degeneration is followed by GCL thinning and depends on the level of visual pathway lesion.