Total blindness after trivial frontal head trauma: bilateral indirect optic nerve injury.
A 10-year-old girl developed bilateral blindness and partial third nerve paresis immediately following a closed head injury. Bilateral optic atrophy developed subsequently. This is the first report of an association between second and third nerve injuries after minor head trauma in the absence of a preexisting lesion. The pathophysiology of indirect injury to the optic nerve under these circumstances is uncertain, but the lesions in this patient seemed to be due to ischemia.
D001766:Blindness / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005546:Forehead / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D009897:Optic Chiasm / Q000098:blood supply; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000473:pathology; D020221:Optic Nerve Injuries; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000150:complications*