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Optic neuritis after eye exam
My with went for a regular eye exam, her eyes were fine when she arrived for the exam. She was given Fluorescein and exam was normal. The next day she had cloudy vision in one eye, a return to the dotor and subsequent exam revealed nothing. Two dyas later she was directed to the hospital, were she had an MRI which initially was read as normal, but 2 days later we were notified that she had optic nueritis. A follow up to a nuerologist confirmed this. The eye doctor says there is no relation between the exam and optic neuritis, but it seems highly coincidental. Could a contaminent be responsible? Have you ever heard of a similar situation? Any suggestions? She had steroid IV treatment, 3 days - finished yesterday, no improvement yet.
Chief, over in the dry eye forum at yahoo (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/DryEye), we have a member whose eyes were damaged by stuff that was put in them at an eye exam. Maybe that person can tell you more. However, her (I think she is a she, she uses her initials, so I tend to forget) had immediately apparent damage, so maybe that is not the same thing.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Dear Chief30x,
Fluorescein is a dye which can be used to determine the integrity of the front surface of the eye and to aid in intraocular pressure measurement. It can also be injected into the vein and photographs taken of the eye. I assumed your description was the latter and apologize for my misunderstanding. This led me to think that her symptoms led to retinal fluorescein angiogram.
Optic neuritis is an inflammatory disorder that leads to destruction of the myelin sheath covering the optic nerve. Many things have been implicated such as multiple sclerosis, infections, auto-immune disorders and medication toxity. Fluorescein has not been implicated in optic neuritis.
Improvement of vision to 20/40 or better may take several months and occurs in 93% of individuals. It is important to be reevaluated in four to six weeks after the initial episode.
Dr. Feldman
Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California
Fluorescein is a dye which can be used to determine the integrity of the front surface of the eye and to aid in intraocular pressure measurement. It can also be injected into the vein and photographs taken of the eye. I assumed your description was the latter and apologize for my misunderstanding. This led me to think that her symptoms led to retinal fluorescein angiogram.
Optic neuritis is an inflammatory disorder that leads to destruction of the myelin sheath covering the optic nerve. Many things have been implicated such as multiple sclerosis, infections, auto-immune disorders and medication toxity. Fluorescein has not been implicated in optic neuritis.
Improvement of vision to 20/40 or better may take several months and occurs in 93% of individuals. It is important to be reevaluated in four to six weeks after the initial episode.
Dr. Feldman
Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California
She had no syptoms, this was a routine eye exam - she was not having any problems when she made the appointment. These syptoms started after the appointment, at which they discovered no problems other than she was in need of glasses for driving.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Dear Chief30x,
It is important to understand what symptoms the person had when she presented to the ophthalmologist. A fluorescein examination was performed due to those symptoms. It was likely she/he had presented with symptoms but nothing could be found because she was in the stage of developing this condition. This can happen. Give the treatment time to work. Corticosteroids, intravenous followed by oral, can help in assisting with a more rapid recovery of optic neuritis. Corticosteroid therapy helps to relieve the pain, enhance visual recovery and decrease the risk of developing systemic disease associated with optic neuritis.
Dr. Feldman
Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California
It is important to understand what symptoms the person had when she presented to the ophthalmologist. A fluorescein examination was performed due to those symptoms. It was likely she/he had presented with symptoms but nothing could be found because she was in the stage of developing this condition. This can happen. Give the treatment time to work. Corticosteroids, intravenous followed by oral, can help in assisting with a more rapid recovery of optic neuritis. Corticosteroid therapy helps to relieve the pain, enhance visual recovery and decrease the risk of developing systemic disease associated with optic neuritis.
Dr. Feldman
Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California
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