Optic Nerve Head Microcirculation in Eyes with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease Accompanied by Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

Abstract

Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) is infrequently complicated with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease. We quantitatively examined sequential changes in the morphology and circulation hemodynamics, using a C-scan of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) in a patient with VKH disease accompanied by AION. A 65-year-old female complained of blurred vision in both of her eyes. The patient presented with optic disc swelling and remarkable choroidal thickening detected by OCT bilaterally. The diagnosis of VKH disease was established based on the presence of pleocytosis detected in the cerebrospinal fluid and hypofluorescent dark dots scattered all around the fundus, detected by indocyanine green angiography. Goldmann perimetry detected visual field defects, similar to superior altitudinal hemianopsia in the right eye and similar to inferior altitudinal hemianopsia in the left eye. The patient was suspected to have developed AION in both eyes. The patient received methylprednisolone pulse therapy, followed by oral prednisolone. With these treatments, the optic disc swelling disappeared. However, optic disc atrophy with visual field defects remained in both eyes. An OCT C-scan showed the ganglion cell complex (GCC) and circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) thickness getting thinner below the normal range, and LSFG showed the decrease in optic nerve head (ONH) tissue microcirculation. These results supported the occurrence of AION in this patient with VKH disease. The analysis of GCC and cpRNFL thickness and ONH microcirculation would be useful for supporting the occurrence of AION in a case of VKH disease.

Keywords

• anterior ischemic optic neuropathy
• laser speckle flowgraphy
• optical coherence tomography
• optic nerve head microcirculation
• vogt-koyanagi-harada disease