VISUAL-LOSS AFTER NEUROSURGICAL REPAIR OF PARACLINOID ANEURYSMS

Objective: To describe three cases of unexplained visual loss after te chnically successful clipping of paraclinoid aneurysms. Design: Three case reports are presented. Results Profound blindness occurred in all three patients. Only one patient had marked visual recovery. Two clin ical patterns were observed. A fulminant orbital syndrome presumably f rom compromise of large draining veins of the orbit was observed in on e patient. A retrobulbar optic neuropathy that might have resulted fro m either direct injury or damage to small dural vessels of the posteri or optic nerve was observed in the other two patients. Conclusions: Th ere is a risk of postoperative blindness after clipping of paraclinoid aneurysms. The frequency of this complication may increase because at tempts to repair these aneurysms are becoming more common. Patients wi th paraclinoid aneurysms should receive preoperative and postoperative neuro-ophthalmologic examinations.