VISUAL loss after nonocular surgery is a rare but devastating perioperative complication. It has been documented in a wide variety of procedures, the most common of which are cardiopulmonary bypass, head and neck operations, and prone spine operations. Ischemic optic neuropathy is the most common diagnosis in these cases. Factors believed to be associated with its occurrence are large intraoper...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The relation between anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and carotid artery atherosclerotic disease is unclear. We studied patients with anterior ischemic optic neuropathy to determine if they had an increased occurrence of carotid artery stenosis. METHODS Fifteen consecutive patients with anterior ischemic optic neuropathy were evaluated prospectively for cervical carot...

BACKGROUND Ischemic optic neuropathy is the most common cause of perioperative vision loss. The authors sought to determine its incidence and identify risk factors that may contribute to perioperative ischemic optic neuropathy associated with nonophthalmologic surgical procedures at their institution. METHODS Seventeen patients who experienced perioperative ischemic optic neuropathy were incl...

A 61-year-old man experienced severe bilateral posterior ischemic optic neuropathy after cardiac bypass surgery. Routine magnetic resonance imaging sequences were normal, but diffusion-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequences showed abnormal hyperintensity within both intra-orbital optic nerves. This imaging abnormality has not been previously reported in this setting.