Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is the most common form of ischemic optic neuropathy and the second most common optic neuropathy. Patients are generally over the age of 50 years with vasculopathic risk factors (eg, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obstructive sleep apnea). The exact mechanism of NAION is not fully understood. In addition, several treatment options have been proposed. This article summarizes the current literature on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of NAION.
Ethambutol-induced optic neuropathy is a well-known and devastating complication of ethambutol therapy. It may occur in approximately 1% of patients taking ethambutol at the WHO recommended doses, though the risk increases substantially with increased dose. All patients on ethambutol should receive regular screening by an ophthalmologist including formal visual field testing. Visual evoked potentials and OCT may be helpful for EON screening, but more research is needed to clarify their clinical usefulness. Patients who develop signs or symptoms of EON should be referred to the ethambutol-prescribing physician immediately for discontinuation or a reduction in ethambutol dosing.
Background:
An association between idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) and anemia has been speculated from previous case reports and case series. Retrospective studies to date have not used matched case controls to compare standardized complete blood count (CBC) values for the presence of anemia.
Methods:
At our tertiary care facility, 50 patients with IIH were matched with 50 case–control patients to compare CBC values from laboratory affiliates with standardized ranges.
Results:
No significant difference was found for any CBC parameters for IIH vs control patients. For female IIH and control patients as well as male IIH patients, values for red blood cell count, hemoglobin (HGB), and hematocrit (HCT) tended to trend on the lower end of “normal” range, whereas this was not seen in male control patients.
Conclusions:
In this retrospective, matched case–control study, no significant association was found between IIH and anemia when comparing standardized CBC values. In accordance with previous studies, the prevalence of anemia may be relatively higher in the IIH population due to a prominent demographic overlap of females of child-bearing age.
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