Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in optic tract syndrome

Background: Optic tract syndrome (OTS) is characterized by incongruous homonymous hemianopia and a perpendicular pattern of bilateral optic atrophy due to the optic tract lesion. However, loss of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) associated with OTS has not been quantitatively assessed. Case: A 20-year-old woman with blunt head trauma showed normal visual acuity, color vision, ocular motility, and intraocular pressure. Because of a relative afferent pupillary defect in her left eve and left-sided homonymous hemianopia, we suspected right-sided optic tract damage, although magnetic resonance imaging detected no intracranial lesion. Observations: Using optical coherence tomography (OCT), the RNFLT of this case was measured at 31 months after the trauma and compared with age-matched normal controls (n = 41). Nasal, temporal, superior, and inferior quadrant RNFLT was reduced by 22%, 21%, 5%, and 46% in the right eye and 76%, 64%, 25%, and 27% in the left eve, respectively. The reduction was > 3 x the standard deviation of the normal mean values in the nasal and temporal quadrants of the left eve and in the inferior quadrant of the right eye. Conclusions: OCT can determine the RNFLT reduction corresponding to the characteristic patterns of optic atrophy of OTS.