title: Non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) in patients under 50 years of age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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 consider whether NAION at a relatively young age might comprise a separate pathological and diagnostic entity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All three cases revealed some common characteristics. All of them experienced recurrent attacks with bilateral manifestations that led to severe loss of vision and visual field defects. The patients had also suffered from diabetes mellitus for a long time, but none of them had diabetic retinopathy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The case histories of these relatively young patients 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 patients. The clinical and laboratory findings definitely exclude the possibility of an alternative diagnosis. Hence, our results do not support the notion of a different pathomechanism of NAION at a young age and its existence as a separate disease entity.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical and Pharmaceutical Centre, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. janaky@opht.szote.u-szeged.hu
authors: Márta
authors: M
authors: Janáky
authors: Zsuzsanna
authors: Z
authors: Fülöp
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Pálffy
authors: Krisztina
authors: K
authors: Benedek
authors: György
authors: G
authors: Benedek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001167:Arteritis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D018917:Optic Neuropathy, Ischemic / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012008:Recurrence; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields