Silicone oils are used for ocular endotamponade to treat complicated retinal detachments. Neurological complications of silicone oil endotamponade are uncommon. Case reports have documented optic nerve atrophy and migration of the silicone oil into the subarachnoid space and ventricular system. However, optic neuritis contralateral to the treated eye has not been reviously described. A report of a 60 year-old-woman who underwent repair of retinal detachment with silicone oil in the left eye and later developed optic neuritis in the right eye. Immediately after the introduction of the silicone oil, the patient complained of severe pain in the left orbit with radiation into the left temporal and occipital areas. Subsequently, development of vision loss in the previously unaffected right eye. Receiving a high dose intravenous steroids for three days with subsequent full recovery of vision in the right eye.
Last date updated on September, 2024