Non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) in patients under 50 years of age.
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.
Janáky
Márta
M
Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical and Pharmaceutical Centre, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary. janaky@opht.szote.u-szeged.hu
Fülöp
Zsuzsanna
Z
Pálffy
Andrea
A
Benedek
Krisztina
K
Benedek
György
G
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