Transient Bilateral Visual Loss due to Posterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy After Cardiac Surgery: A Very Rare Case

Abstract

Visual loss is a relatively rare but devastating and unpredictable complication of open heart surgery<br />with cardiopulmonary bypass. The most common cause of postoperative visual loss following cardiac<br />surgery is ischemic optic neuropathy (ION), which is generally categorized as anterior ischemic optic<br />neuropathy (AION) and posterior ischemic optic neuropathy (PION). PION is clinically differentiated<br />from AION with a normal-appearing optic nerve head. PION is relatively more common in cases of<br />spinal surgery and radical neck dissection, while AION appears to be more common than PION after<br />cardiac surgery. We report a very rare case of transient bilateral visual loss due to PION in a 44-yearold man undergoing mitral valve replacement and coronary artery bypass graft surgery.