Pseudo-Schnabel's cavernous degeneration of the optic nerve secondary to intraocular silicone oil
C. L. Shields and R. C. Eagle Jr
Department of Pathology, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 19107.
A 29-year-old man sustained severe trauma to his left eye requiring
corneoscleral wound repair and retinal detachment repair. Because of a
persistent retinal detachment, he underwent vitrectomy and silicone oil
implantation into the vitreous cavity. Over the ensuing 2 years 4 months,
the eye gradually became glaucomatous, blind, and painful, requiring
enucleation. Histopathologic examination revealed that coalescent globules
of silicone oil had infiltrated the entire length of the attached atrophic
optic nerve. Superficially reminiscent of the changes seen in Schnabel's
cavernous optic atrophy, this observation provides evidence for the theory
of Zimmerman et al concerning the pathogenesis of cavernous degeneration of
the optic nerve in glaucomatous eyes.
