Skip to main content
  • Blink

    Optic Nerve Avulsion

    By Robin A. Vora, MD, and photographed by Apolonia Hilao-Bautista, The Permanente Medical Group, Oakland, Calif.
    Add to My Bookmarks

    Download PDF

    Optic Nerve Avulsion

    A 25-year-old man presented with loss of vision in his right eye after falling off his bicycle the previous night. He admitted to intoxication at the time of injury. On examination, he had no light perception in the affected right eye. His right pupil was dilated and nonreactive.

    Fundus examination revealed an avulsed optic nerve with venous blood emanating from the optic canal. Additionally, the retina was completely opacified, consistent with a concomitant retinal artery occlusion. No treatment was offered. At two-month follow-up, no vision had returned.

    BLINK SUBMISSIONS: Send us your ophthalmic image and its explanation in 150-250 words. E-mail to eyenet@aao.org, fax to 415-561-8575, or mail to EyeNet Magazine, 655 Beach Street, San Francisco, CA 94109. Please note that EyeNet reserves the right to edit Blink submissions.