CASE REPORT
Optic Nerve Cysticercosis: Case Report and Review of Current Management
Rajeev Sudan, M.D. ,R. Muralidhar, M.D. &Pradeep Sharma, M.D., MNAMS
AbstractThe authors present a case of optic nerve cysticercosis in a 32-year-old patient who presented with sudden blurring of vision in the left eye and a transient visual improvement on systemic steroids. The ocular findings were unremarkable other than a relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD). An ultrasound of the orbit, CT and MRI scans revealed a cystic lesion in the orbital portion of the optic nerve close to the eyeball. A presumed diagnosis of optic nerve cysticercosis was made on the basis of imaging and a positive serum ELISA. The patient improved dramatically on a 4-week therapeutic trial of albendazole and oral steroids. The post-treatment ultrasound and CT scan showed an involution of the cyst with some residual thickening of the optic nerve.
Omnibus Humans
The Art and Science of Ophthalmology
Sudan, Rajeev
Every year thousands of doctors receive their graduation degrees in India. The degree titled “Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery,” misses out the two important words “art and science.” A few international fellowship programs, however, do state “examined in the art and science of medicine” in their degrees. These two words form the core of medicine but are scarcely practiced in a harmonious and integrated manner. It is because science is well practiced and drilled into the minds of a doctor from their undergraduate days. There are lectures and presentations on evidence-based medicine, advances in diagnostics, immunology, and pharmacology but the most important aspect of medicine its humanist aspect, is neglected.