OBJECTIVES To treat traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) with transplantation of human umbilical cord blood stem cells (hUCBSC) and explore how transplanted stem cells participate in the neuron repairing process. METHODS A total of 195 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to three groups: sham-surgery, optic nerve injury, and stem cell transplant group. Optic nerve injury was established in...

Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death and a failure of axon regeneration contribute to the profound visual loss experienced by patients after traumatic optic neuropathy (TON), for which there are no effective treatments. Experimental manipulations of cellular signaling pathways in animal models have demonstrated that neuronal survival and axon regeneration in the mature central nervous system (CNS)...

Optic neuropathy is a frequent cause of vision loss encountered by ophthalmologist. The diagnosis is made on clinical grounds. The history often points to the possible etiology of the optic neuropathy. A rapid onset is typical of demyelinating, inflammatory, ischemic and traumatic causes. A gradual course points to compressive, toxic/nutritional and hereditary causes. The classic clinical signs...

To the Editors: This letter reports a case illustrating an indirect traumatic optic neuropathy occurring from a dangerous pre-game sporting ritual. Our hope is that awareness of this activity and its danger may prevent its unnecessary recurrence. A 17-year-old male football player sustained a blunt traumatic head injury that occurred from a seemingly harmless and increasingly common activity, h...

The causes of nonglaucomatous optic disk atrophy and excavation are enumerated in people 65 years or older: congenital anomalies, myopia, ischemic disorders, transsynaptic degeneration, traumatic, compressive, hereditary, toxic and infectious optic neuropathy.