Unilateral Optic Neuritis in a Case of Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus

Abstract

A 48-year-old white male presented with sudden loss of vision. He had vesicular eruptions of herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) at that time. His best-corrected visual acuity was 20/200 in the left eye and 20/20 in the right eye. His ocular examination revealed that he had optic neuritis (ON) secondary to HZO. An extensive diagnostic work up revealed no underlying immunocomprise. The patient was given intravenous aciclovir along with oral prednisolone. At the twelfth month of follow-up, the vision is 20/40 in the right eye and 20/20 in the left eye. In conclusion, accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment is needed to restore some useful vision in cases with ON secondary to HZO.

KEYWORDS::

• Optic neuritis
• Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Declaration of interest: The authors have no proprietary interests in this study.