ANTERIOR ISCHEMIC OPTIC NEUROPATHY IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING HEMODIALYSIS

Four patients are discussed who underwent hemodialysis and developed a nterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION). Three patients had been trea ted by hemodialysis for several years. One patient developed bilateral optic neuropathy after the first hemodialysis session, So far, only f our hemodialysis patients with bilateral AION have been reported in th e literature. One of these reported patients had optic disc drusen; an other suffered from severe blood loss. It is suggested that the ischem ic optic neuropathy in our four patients may have been caused by low b lood pressure, which was very difficult to regulate in these patients, Three of our patients developed bilateral optic neuropathy, the secon d eye shortly after the first. One patient had unilateral AION, which remained unilateral for four years.