Causes and Clinical Characteristics of Compressive Optic Neuropathy in South Korean Patients

• Published in: Korean journal of ophthalmology Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 95 - 102
• Main Authors: Yun, Sang Hun, Kim, Dae Hyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Ophthalmological Society 01.04.2025; 대한안과학회
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Incidence; Male; Middle Aged; Nerve Compression Syndromes - diagnosis; Nerve Compression Syndromes - epidemiology; Nerve Compression Syndromes - etiology; Optic Nerve Diseases - diagnosis; Optic Nerve Diseases - epidemiology; Optic Nerve Diseases - etiology; Original; Pituitary Neoplasms - complications; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Tomography, Optical Coherence - methods; Visual Acuity; Visual Field Tests; Visual Fields - physiology; Young Adult; 안과학; Republic of Korea; Visual field tests; Pituitary neoplasms; Compressive optic neuropathy
• ISSN: 1011-8942; 2092-9382
• DOI: 10.3341/kjo.2024.0075

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the causes and clinical features of compressive optic neuropathy in Koreans.Methods: We analyzed the medical records of patients diagnosed with compressive optic neuropathy from March 2014 to December 2023 to determine the cause of optic nerve compression, symptoms and symptom patterns at first visit, accompanying symptoms, types of visual field defects, and visual prognosis after surgery. In addition, the results of visual field tests and optical coherence tomography were analyzed to determine the positivity rate of each test and factors affecting test results.Results: A total of 73 patients were diagnosed with compressive optic neuropathy, and the most common cause was pituitary tumor (37 patients, 50.7%) followed by meningioma (16 patients, 21.9%), hemangioma (4 patients, 5.5%), thyroid ophthalmopathy (4 patients, 5.5%), and paranal sinus tumor tumor (2 patients, 2.7%). In terms of symptom pattern, half of the patients had vision and visual field defects that appeared gradually (41 patients, 56.2%), but there were also quite a few patients whose symptoms appeared suddenly (17 patients, 23.3%). The positivity rate of the diagnostic test was highest for visual field testing (89.0%). In pituitary tumors, tumor size affected diagnostic test results (p = 0.01).Conclusions: The most common cause of compressive optic neuropathy in South Koreans was a pituitary tumor. Deterioration of visual function can also occur acutely, and visual field testing was useful for diagnosis.