Severance of Optic Nerve Following Traffic Accident and Its Electron Microscopic Findings.

Kim, In Taek; Soong, Hyo Churl; Choi, Hee Kyu

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 1998;39(4):746-751.
Published online April 1, 1998.

Severance of Optic Nerve Following Traffic Accident and Its Electron Microscopic Findings.

In Taek Kim, Hyo Churl Soong, Hee Kyu Choi

Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Taegu, Korea.

교통사고후 절단된 시신경과 전자현미경소견

김인택(In Taek Kim),송효철(Hyo Churl Soong),최희규(Hee Kyu Choi)

Abstract

The optic nerve do not easily sever because of its anatomic status in the orbit. The purpose of this study is to investigate electron microscopic findings in the proximal portion of the severed optic nerve which remained in the orbit for about 4.5 months. Thirty seven-year-old woman showed the protruded eyeball and deep skin laceration following traffic accident. Computerized tomography and MRI demonstrated the complete severance in her left optic nerve. Her eyeball containing the proximal portion of the severed optic nerve was enucleated at about 4.5 months after traffic accident. Eletron microscopic findings showed several macrophages, fibroblast, and dense collagen fibers, which mean the fibrosis histopathologically. The fibrosis was the main pathologic outcome in the proximal portion of the severed optic nerve. We suggest that the process of the fibrosis could result from the incorporation of the fibroblast within the meninges around the optic nerve and the proliferation of the fibroblast within fibrovascular septa of the pia mater which extend into the optic nerve.

Key Words: Fibrosis;Gliosis;Histopathologic study;Optic nerve;Severance