Detection of optic nerve disease in retinoblastoma by use of spectral domain optical coherence tomography

Abstract

We present the case of a child affected with retinoblastoma and evolving optic nerve pathology detected by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) before magnetic resonance imaging. At 6 months of age, the patient was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, which was managed with systemic chemotherapy and focal therapy. Six months after the third and final cycle of systemic chemotherapy, the right optic disk clinically appeared progressively edematous, raising concerns of tumor infiltration of the optic nerve head. Images obtained via magnetic resonance imaging could not confirm the presence of a tumor at the optic nerve head, whereas findings on SD-OCT were suggestive of optic nerve head disease. Histopathologic findings after enucleation revealed viable tumor over the optic nerve head, supporting the OCT findings.