Purpose: The goal of our study was to compare the case histories and clinical findings in three young patients (aged < 50 years) who had undergone their first attack of non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAI...Purpose: The goal of our study was to compare the case histories and clinical findings in three young patients (aged < 50 years) who had undergone their first attack of non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION).We intended to cons ider whether NAION at a relatively young age might comprise a separate pathologi cal and diagnostic entity. Results: All three cases revealed some common charact eristics. All of them experienced recurrent attacks with bilateral manifestation s that led to severe loss of vision and visual field defects. The patients had a lso suffered from diabetes mellitus for a long time, but none of them had diabet ic retinopathy. Conclusion: The case histories of these relatively young patient s showed some differences, including recurrences and more severe loss of vision, to those of elderly patients. However, all the signs we found had been reported previously, although much less frequently, in NAION cases among elderly patient s. The clinical and laboratory findings definitely exclude the possibility of an alternative diagnosis. Hence, our results do not support the notion of a differ ent pathomechanism of NAION at a young age and its existence as a separate disea se entity.展开更多
文摘Purpose: The goal of our study was to compare the case histories and clinical findings in three young patients (aged < 50 years) who had undergone their first attack of non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION).We intended to cons ider whether NAION at a relatively young age might comprise a separate pathologi cal and diagnostic entity. Results: All three cases revealed some common charact eristics. All of them experienced recurrent attacks with bilateral manifestation s that led to severe loss of vision and visual field defects. The patients had a lso suffered from diabetes mellitus for a long time, but none of them had diabet ic retinopathy. Conclusion: The case histories of these relatively young patient s showed some differences, including recurrences and more severe loss of vision, to those of elderly patients. However, all the signs we found had been reported previously, although much less frequently, in NAION cases among elderly patient s. The clinical and laboratory findings definitely exclude the possibility of an alternative diagnosis. Hence, our results do not support the notion of a differ ent pathomechanism of NAION at a young age and its existence as a separate disea se entity.
