Neurovisual impairment: a frequent complication of alpha-interferon treatment in chronic viral hepatitis.

Following our earlier observation of clinically evident optic tract neuropathy in patients receiving low-dose interferon (IFN) therapy, we prospectively evaluated 53 consecutive patients treated for chronic hepatitis B or C with a median dose of 3 MU of IFN-a2b thrice weekly. Measurements included routine ophthalmologic evaluation and recordings of visual evoked responses (VER), electroretinograms (ERG), visual acuity, and visual fields, before, at the end of IFN treatment, and at follow-up visits. Baseline P100 latencies of VERs (base-VER) were abnormally prolonged in 24 patients (32 of 106 eyes, 30.

Spontaneous recovery of progressive anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

During the last 5 years much discussion has occurred about the progressive anterior ischemic optic neuropathy of nonarteretic type and the usefulness of surgical optic nerve sheath decompression for its treatment. The description of cases with spontaneous recovery of the disease made some authors reserved or against this method and the whole subject has been debated with skeptisism. In this article three cases of progressive nonarteretic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy with spontaneous recovery are described.