Complete vision loss??

[OhioKris]

I'm just curious if its possible to completely lose your vision due to MS lesions in optic nerve tracts. Its not ON.
THANKSS!!

[22cyclist]

If you had MS lesions in your optic nerve tracts it would cause optic neuritis. So if you do not have it, the next obvious cause is a migraine. Silent or otherwise.

Best of luck
Lisa

[OhioKris]

I should have given more info. I'm sorry. The lesions are confirmed by MRI. They are in the back portion of optic nerve so I'm not having the typical pain. Saw neuro ophthalmologist today. I'm just curioys if it can deteriorate to total vision loss thats permanent. I have lesions in bith sides which they felt was rare since both appeared around same time.

[MSer102]

OhioKris it still isn't quite clear where your lesions are. The optic nerves and the optic tracts are different things.

The optic nerves are the nerve "cables" that connect the eyes to the brain. They are outside the main part of the brain.

The optic tracts are contained inside the brain, behind (toward the back of the head) the crossover point of the optic nerves called the optic chiasm. The brain isn't the "back portion" of the optic nerves. The optic tracts are part of the brain so they're not called optic nerve tracts because they aren't the optic nerves anymore. The optic nerves end at the optic chiasm.

If I'm reading your posts correctly, I think you mean that you have brain lesions located in the optic tract area on each side of the brain and that you don't have optic nerve lesions.

In theory all kinds of things are possible. But MS lesions in the brain just aren't known for causing a total loss of vision or even a major loss of vision.

First, the optic tract on each side contains nerves from half and only half of each eye. So something huge like head trauma or a stroke takes out at most half the vision (right side or left side) of each eye. The other side of each eye's vision isn't affected at all. Typical MS lesions aren't anywhere near big enough to do that.

A typical MS lesion is fairly small, so MS lesions might be large enough to cause a small defect in the visual field on the same side of each eye. Considering that the normal visual field is about 160 degrees horizontally and about 135 degrees vertically in each eye, that's not enough to cause any significant problem.

Even with small defects on both sides, it's probably still not going to be a major problem. I have major visual field losses on both sides from repeated episodes of optic neuritis and I still get around OK. Smaller losses from brain lesions would be easier to compensate for as long as everything else is working normally.

The odds of a complete loss of vision from MS brain lesions are very very small because MS lesions just don't typically get big enough to cause significant vision loss and because the odds of exactly the same unlikely thing actually happening on both sides makes it even more unlikely. That would be a rare, rare case of MS indeed!

If you are concerned about a total loss of vision, the thing to have a healthy respect for is optic neuritis. It only takes one episode of ON to affect the entire optic nerve width and cause total, permanent loss of vision in an eye. And a separate episode of ON can take out vision permanently in the other eye. So "legal blindness" or total loss of vision can come from only two episodes of ON. That isn't usually what happens, but it does happen. Brain lesions just don't do that.

[MSer102]

I forgot to say that if there was any significant vision loss from your brain lesions it would have shown up on your visual field test. Did your test show any losses? If not, then your current lesions aren't causing you any trouble. What did the ophthalmologist say about your vision and your vision tests?

[Cat Mom]

First ON in right eye, lost complete vision but it came back. Left eye not so lucky. Due to repeated inflammation of the Optic Nerve, vision is gone, pupil is non-responsive to light. Optic Nerve is gray, not pink. It can be seen when my pupil is dilated. As far as I know, none of this is due to brain lesions, only Optic Nerve.

Jen

[OhioKris]

Thank you agan for the input. I have loss of clarity in both the eyes. The visual field test showed bith eyes had significant issues with vision in top left quadrant. Both neuro snd neuro ophthalmologist say lesions in optic nerve tract. I assumed that was behind optic nerve! Lol dr is recommending tysabri.

[HairstylistMLB]

Total loss of vision

I had ON in June 2003 and lost all vision in my left eye. It has never returned. I was dxed with MS in Oct. 2005. It was hard to adjust to at first, but I did and continue to work as a hairstylist. I was told by my neuropthamologist that it is rare to have total vision loss.