The belief, once held, that an aetiological relationship exists between diabetes mellitus and optic atrophy is not now generally accepted. The observations of early authors such as Allbutt (1871) and von Noorden (1917), who regarded optic atrophy as a diabetic complication, may have been partially vitiated by the fact that both visual loss and changes in the optic discs may result from other oc...

The association between hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (HMSN) and optic atrophy has been termed HMSN type VI. The autosomal dominant inheritance of this syndrome is reported. Three generations were affected with optic atrophy, which differed in some respects from classic dominant optic atrophy, and an asymptomatic, mainly sensory, neuropathy.

• The optic tract syndrome is characterized by a contralateral, incongruous homonymous hemianopia, contralateral relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD), and optic atrophy due to retrograde axonal degeneration. • Optic disc pallor often results in a pattern of bowtie atrophy of the eye with temporal field loss and atrophy of the upper and lower poles of the disc of the eye with nasal field lo...

OBJECTIVE Optic atrophy is a pathological term applied to optic nerve shrinkage from any process that produces degeneration of axons in the anterior visual system (the retino-geniculate pathway). The pathologist can make the diagnosis of optic atrophy by direct observation of the histopathological changes in the optic nerve. The clinician is restricted to indirect evidence by observing the opti...

BASIC CONSIDERATIONS Optic atrophy is a misleading term which, embedded by tradition and usage, resists precise definition. It is used when there is excessive pallor of the optic disc and is thus a physical sign and not a diagnosis. Since there are many causes of optic pallor, the term is usually reserved for those cases in which there is associated visual defect, either of fields or acuity, in...

The vasopressin test gave pathological results in 12 cases of optic atrophy and normal results in three cases. One of the patients with a pathological response had Leber's disease and three had tobacco-alcholic amblyopia, while in the rest the optic atrophy was of uncertain origin. In the cases with normal results the aetiology was also unclear. The Metopirone test was normal in 13 cases and pa...