TRAUMATIC OPTIC NEUROPATHY - TO TREAT OR TO OBSERVE?

We present a case of acute traumatic optic neuropathy in 54 year old male patient. The patient presented with acute loss of vision in the right eye due to a blunt trauma to the eye. Lid haematoma and subconjunctival hemorrhage were present. Fluorescein staining was negative, anterior chamber and lens was clear. Intraocular pressure was normal. Retina and optic nerve head appeared normal on fundoscopy. The vision was “counting fingers at 1 meter” in the right eye. Color test indicated color perception dysfunction of the right eye. Relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD) was positive. Ocular ultrasound, orbital X ray and CT scan was normal, but visual evoked potentials test was pathologic. The consideration was made whether to treat a patient or not since there are no consensus on the treatment of traumatic optic neuropathy. We decided to treat the patient immediately with the megadoses of steroids following the protocol suggested by Cerovski. The patient responded well to the treatment and recovered vision to normal.