Homonymous thinning on macular optical coherence tomography indicating retrograde trans-synaptic degeneration from occipital infarctions

Abstract

Inner retinal thinning on optical coherence tomography (OCT) occurring through retrograde trans-synaptic degeneration is an increasingly recognized phenomenon, even in acquired retro-chiasmal brain lesions. We describe a man with stable visual field defects from multiple bilateral posterior circulation infarctions, who had ganglion cell complex (GCC) thinning on macular OCT that corresponded precisely with his visual field defects. In contrast to previous reports indicating that peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) changes are important in detecting this phenomenon, the peripapillary RFNL thickness and the optic disc appearance of our patient were relatively unaffected. Our case contributes to the growing body of evidence that retrograde trans-synaptic degeneration can manifest as isolated macular OCT findings.

Keywords

• infarction
• macular ganglion cell complex
• optical coherence tomography
• trans-synaptic retrograde degeneration
• visual field defects