Overview

What Is Neuro-Ophthalmologic Disease?

Neuro-ophthalmologic disease is the term used for a variety of visual problems that are related to the optic nerve, eye movements and the parts of the brain devoted to vision. Many of these issues are not actually problems with the eyes, but with the connections between the eyes and the brain, and the brain and the eye muscles.

The optic nerve is the important "cable" that takes information from the eye and retina back to the brain. The optic nerve can be affected by a wide variety of conditions. Recognizing optic nerve disease can be very important in preventing permanent vision loss and, sometimes, identifying life-threatening conditions.

Neuro-ophthalmologic conditions include:

• Abnormal movements of the eye
• Adult strabismus
• Asymmetric pupils
• Double vision
• Eyelid abnormalities
• Optic atrophy
• Optic neuritis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Thyroid eye disease
• Unexplained vision loss
• Vision loss due to poor blood flow
• Vision loss due to traumatic brain injury
• Visual field defects