Optic neuritis or ophthalmic artery aneurysm? Case presentation with histopathologic documentation utilizing a new staining method.

An elderly woman was admitted to the hospital with a presumptive diagnosis of optic neuritis following abrupt loss of vision in her left eye. Noninvasive studies were unrevealing, and she was put on a course of prednisone. Further visual loss 2 weeks later prompted a second course of prednisone therapy. Six years later the patient died from cardiac arrest. The autopsy revealed an aneurysm arising from the origin of the left ophthalmic artery. Selected brain specimens were histologically examined by application of a newly developed staining technique capable of identifying degenerated axons in human brain tissue even after long survival periods. We traced degeneration from the site of compression at the left optic nerve to five primary visual nuclei. Furthermore, transsynaptic cellular changes were observed in the lateral geniculate nucleus.