carotid wall thickness in patients with acute unilateral nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy

purpose: to compare ipsilateral and contralateral carotid wall thickness in patients with acute unilateral non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (naion). methods: this prospective case series included 17 (10 male and 7 female) patients with unilateral naion of less than 8 weeks&apos; duration who underwent b-mode ultrasonography to measure intima-media thickness (imt) in the common carotid and internal carotid arteries. imt values of the affected side were compared with those on the contralateral side. results: mean patient age was 59.6±10.8 (range 45-74) years. mean interval between onset of naion and measurements was 27.6±13.2 (range 10-45) days. mean imt of both common and internal carotid arteries on the affected side (1.19±0.14 and 1.41±0.29 mm, respectively) was significantly (p<0.001) higher than the non-involved side (0.92±0.11 and 0.83±0.2, respectively). conclusion: naion may be accompanied by increased carotid wall thickness. carotid wall thickness measurement using ultrasound in patients with naion may be useful to identify concomitant carotid artery disease.