Effect of optic nerve sheath fenestration for idiopathic intracranial hypertension on retinal nerve fiber layer thickness

The objective of the study was to evaluate whether optic nerve sheath fenestration in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension was associated with improvement in visual field pattern deviation and optical coherence tomography retinal nerve fiber layer thickness. The records of 13 eyes of 11 patients who underwent optic nerve sheath fenestration were reviewed. The subjects were patients of a clinical practice in Dallas, Texas. Charts were reviewed for pre- and postoperative visual field pattern deviation (PD) and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL). PD and RNFL significantly improved after surgery. Average PD preoperatively was 8.51 DB and postoperatively was 4.80 DB (p = 0.0002). Average RNFL preoperatively was 113.63 and postoperatively was 102.70 (p = 0.01). The preoperative PD and RNFL did not correlate strongly. Our results demonstrate that PD and RNFL are improved after optic nerve sheath fenestration. The pre- and postoperative RNFL values were compared to the average RNFL value of healthy optic nerves obtained from the literature. Post-ONSF RNFL values were significantly closer to the normal value than preoperative. RNFL is an objective parameter for monitoring the optic nerve after optic nerve sheath fenestration. This study adds to the evidence that OCT RNFL may be an effective monitoring tool for patients with IIH and that it continues to be a useful parameter after ONSF.