Bilateral vision loss associated with radiofrequency exposure

Abstract

A 57-year-old otherwise healthy woman presented with painless binocular vision loss 1 week after direct application of radiofrequency energy to her orbits. She had no light perception bilaterally. Pupils were dilated and not reactive to light. Fundoscopic exam initially showed optic disc swelling in the right eye and a normal-appearing disc in the left eye. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and orbits showed gadolinium enhancement of both intraorbital optic nerves. She underwent a course of high-dose steroid treatment without recovery of vision. Optic discs were pale 11 weeks after injury. With exclusion of other possible causes, this represents a unique case of irreversible binocular optic nerve damage and blindness secondary to radiofrequency exposure.

Keywords:

• optic neuropathy
• blindness
• radiofrequency
• vision loss

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by an unrestricted grant to the Wilmer Eye Institute from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc, New York, NY, USA.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflict of interest in this work.