Unilateral anterior ischemic optic neuropathy caused by Takayasu’s arteritis

Abstract

Takayasu’s disease is an arteritis with a predilection for the proximal branches of the aortic arch. Chronic retinal hypoxic changes and ischemic ocular inflammation, resulting from cervical vascular occlusion, have been extensively described. Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy has rarely been reported in this condition, and only in conjunction with other ophthalmic findings. The authors present the case of a 25-year-old woman who developed unilateral anterior ischemic optic neuropathy in the absence of other eye findings and was subsequently found to have an aortic arch syndrome compatible with Takayasu’s disease.