Ocular changes in invasive osteogenic sarcoma of the skull

Abstract

Serial narrow-band green-light fundus photographs documented the evolution of descending optic atrophy in a case of rapid bilateral blindness produced by a highly invasive osteogenic sarcoma of the base of the skull. Disappearance of the nerve fiber layer (NFL) was observed to take place between the sixth and 12th week after onset of blindness; thus, it is similar to the evolution of descending atrophy found to occur in clinical cases of blindness caused by traumatic involvement of the optic nerve. Parallel to the disappearance of the NFL there was an increase in optic nerve head excavation and a change in the appearance of the vessels on the disk surfaces.