[Heredo-familial arachnoiditis of the optic chiasm (clinical picture and results of neurosurgical treatment)].

The authors report that Leber's optic atrophy is a familial hereditary optochiasmatic arachnoiditis: 70 patients from 44 families are analysed. In 17 families a medicogenetic analysis was conducted at least in three generations and a recessive type of heredity was determined in most cases. Fifty-five patients underwent operation after ineffective nonoperative treatment. Optochiasmatic arachnoiditis was found in all patients during surgery. Visual functions improved six months after the operation in half the patients. The similarity of the clinical picture of familial hereditary optochiasmatic arachnoiditis with that of infectious-allergic meningitis dictates the need for studying the familial medical history of all patients with retrobulbar neuritis.