Progressive Chronic Retinal Axonal Loss Following Acute Methanol-induced Optic Neuropathy: Four-Year Prospective Cohort Study

• Published in: American journal of ophthalmology 2018-07, Vol.191, p.100-115
• Main Authors: Nurieva, Olga, Diblik, Pavel, Kuthan, Pavel, Sklenka, Petr, Meliska, Martin, Bydzovsky, Jan, Heissigerova, Jarmila, Urban, Pavel, Kotikova, Katerina, Navratil, Tomas, Komarc, Martin, Seidl, Zdenek, Vaneckova, Manuela, Pelclova, Daniela, Zakharov, Sergey
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Alcohol; Axons - drug effects; Axons - pathology; Brain - pathology; Chronic Disease; Cohort analysis; Diabetes; Diabetic retinopathy; Disease Progression; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Glaucoma; Humans; Laboratories; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Methanol - poisoning; Middle Aged; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Ophthalmology; Optic Disk - drug effects; Optic Disk - pathology; Optic Nerve Diseases - chemically induced; Optic Nerve Diseases - diagnosis; Optic Nerve Diseases - physiopathology; Poisoning; Prospective Studies; Retinal Ganglion Cells - drug effects; Retinal Ganglion Cells - pathology; Retinal Neurons - drug effects; Retinal Neurons - pathology; Solvents - poisoning; Standard deviation; Time Factors; Tomography; Tomography, Optical Coherence - methods; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Visual Acuity; Visual Fields
• ISSN: 0002-9394; 1879-1891
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2018.04.015

To study the dynamics and clinical determinants of chronic retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL) loss after methanol-induced optic neuropathy. Prospective cohort study. All patients underwent complete ophthalmic evaluation including spectral-domain optical coherence tomography 3 times during 4 years of observation: 4.9 (±0.6), 25.0 (±0.6), and 49.9 (±0.5) months after discharge. Participants: Eighty-four eyes of 42 survivors of methanol poisoning, mean age (standard deviation) of 45.7 (±4.4) years; and 82 eyes of 41 controls, mean age 44.0 (±4.2) years. Main Outcome Measures: Global and temporal RNFL loss. Abnormal RNFL thickness was registered in 13 of 42 (31%) survivors of methanol poisoning and chronic axonal loss in 10 of 42 (24%) patients. Significant decrease of global/temporal RNFL thickness during the observation period was found in the study population compared to the controls (P < .001). The risk estimate of chronic global RNFL loss for arterial blood pH < 7.3 at admission was 11.65 (95% confidence interval 1.91–71.12) after adjusting for age and sex. The patients with chronic axonal degeneration demonstrated progressive visual loss in 7 of 10 cases. The patients with abnormal RNFL thickness had magnetic resonance signs of brain damage in 10 of 13 vs 8 of 29 cases with normal RNFL thickness (P = .003). Signs of brain hemorrhages were present in 7 of 13 patients with abnormal RNFL thickness vs 5 of 29 cases with normal RNFL thickness (P = .015). Methanol-induced optic neuropathy may lead to chronic retinal axonal loss during the following years. Arterial blood pH on admission is the strongest predictor of chronic RNFL thickness decrease. Chronic retinal neurodegeneration is associated with the progressive loss of visual functions and necrotic brain lesions.