Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate retinal nerve fiber layer thickness as a predictor of visual acuity and visual field improvement after chiasmal decompression surgery.
Methods: :
23 patients and 46 eyes with a compressive chiasmal lesion as demonstrated by MRI were reviewed. Preoperatively all patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic exam including determination of the visual field by Humphrey 30-2 and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measurement by optical coherence tomography. Post operatively all patients underwent repeat visual field examination within 3 months. Visual field change was determined and then correlated to pre-operative RNFL.
Results: :
No statistically significant association was found between retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and improvement in visual acuity or visual field testing. A statistically significant association was found between initial visual field loss and improvement after chiasmal decompression.
Conclusions: :
In this small retrospective study, retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was not a good predictor of visual recovery after decompressive surgery for sellar lesions.
Keywords: visual fields • optic nerve