Blindness from intracranial tumors: a clinical analysis of 60 cases.

We analyzed the cause of blindness in 60 people with intracranial tumors. Twenty-three (38.3%) had binocular blindness, thirty-seven (61.2%) had monocular blindness. The most common tumors producing blindness were pituitary chromophobe adenomas and craniopharyngiomas. Blindness in this series resulted usually from intracranial tumors, which directly or indirectly involved the optic nerve or optic chiasma. These tumors were sometimes misdiagnosed when these patients were first examined by physicians. Specific ophthalmic examinations should permit the diagnosis to be made earlier.