Art observation training for first-year medical students can improve clinical ophthalmology observational skills. Principles from the field of visual arts, which is reputed to excel in teaching observation and descriptive abilities, can be successfully applied to medical training. Further studies can examine the impact of such training on clinical care.

Optic neuritis is an inflammatory demyelination of optic nerve often occurring in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an MS model, develop optic neuritis, but it is detected histologically after sacrifice, limiting the ability to monitor progression or treatment in vivo. We examined whether pupillary light responses measured by pupillometry can identify eyes with optic neuritis in EAE mice. C57BL/6 mice were exposed to unilateral light flashes of increasing intensity at 10 second intervals (4.7, 37, and 300 μW/cm2). Pupillary responses were recorded with a commercially available pupillometer. EAE was then induced by immunization with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein. Pupillometry was repeated up to 17 days post-immunization, and responses were correlated with optic nerve inflammation. By day 17 post-immunization, 90% of EAE eyes had optic nerve inflammation. EAE eyes had significantly reduced pupillary constriction compared to control eyes. Mice exhibited more than a 25% decrease in pupillary constriction in at least one eye by days 13-15 post-immunization. In some eyes, pupil responses decreased prior to onset of detectable inflammation. Results show that pupillometry detects decreased optic nerve function in experimental optic neuritis, even in the absence of histological detection. Measuring pupillary constriction allows in vivo identification and functional assessment of eyes with optic neuritis that will be useful in evaluating potential therapies over time. Furthermore, results demonstrate that decreased visual function occurs early in optic neuritis, before optic nerve inflammation reaches its peak level.

This cross-sectional analysis of nationally representative hospitalizations uses data from the National Inpatient Sample and 3 national surveys of ambulatory surgery to compare the frequency of use of optic nerve sheath fenestration vs cerebrospinal fluid shunt placement for the treatment of pseudotumor cerebri syndrome.

Delays in treatment related to misdiagnosis, as well as resistance to current antiviral therapeutics, can lead to visually devastating corneal opacification. In the pediatric population, already at risk for amblyopia, this can be especially damaging. Children are unique with regards to the way in which they manifest herpetic keratitis, making rapid diagnosis and treatment even more challenging.

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Two children without neurofibromatosis type 1 presented with unilateral decreased vision and MRI revealing optic nerve tumors. In the first case, chemotherapy was initiated empirically for presumed optic pathway glioma, but the lesion increased in size with associated clinical worsening, raising concern for a possible alternate diagnosis. Biopsy of the involved optic nerve resulted in worsening of vision due to a branch retinal artery occlusion and showed a grade I pilocytic astrocytoma. In the second case, sudden symptom onset and rapid tumor growth prompted an optic nerve biopsy, resulting in vision loss due to a central retinal artery occlusion and revealing grade I pilocytic astrocytoma. In both cases, tissue diagnosis did not alter the course of management. Instead, biopsy was associated with additional vision loss, highlighting the risk of biopsy in children with isolated optic nerve tumors and imaging that is most consistent with an optic pathway glioma.