Abstract
We examined a pregnant woman with chiasmal syndrome in the late stage of pregnancy. Her vision was determined to be seriously threatened after 31 weeks' gestation. Study of the latency of preoperative visual evoked potentials (VEPs) in other patients with pituitary tumor showed that insofar as latency is not delayed, surgical decompression is expected to be followed by functional improvement of the optic pathway. We monitored optic nerve function by serially recorded VEPs, and labor was induced at 38 weeks because there had been no delayed response up to that time. After a decompressive operation, visual field and visual acuity recovered normally. Serially recorded VEPs can provide a useful monitor along with visual field and acuity tests in guiding therapy for a patient with threatened vision in late pregnancy and in determining whether or when to induce labor.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Babel J, Stangos N, Korol S, Spiritus M (1977) Ocular electrophysiology. Stuttgart: Georg Thieme, 111–116
Duke-Elder S (1971) Pituitary hyperplasia. In: System of Ophthalmology, vol. 12. London: Henry Kimpton, 342–343
Enoksson P, Lundberg N, Sjöstedt S, Skanse B (1961) Influence of pregnancy on visual fields in suprasellar tumors. Acta Psychiatr Neurolog Scand 36: 524–538
Falconer MA, Stafford-Bell MA (1975) Visual failure from pituitary and parasellar tumors occurring with favourable outcome in pregnant woman. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatr 38: 919–930
Gott PS, Weiss MH, Apuzzo M, Van Der Meulen JP (1979) Checkerboard visual evoked response in evaluation and management of pituitary tumors. Neurosurgery 5: 553–558
Halliday AM, Halliday E (1976) The pattern-evoked potential in compression of the anterior visual pathways. Brain 99: 357–374
Magyar DM, Marshall JR (1978) Pituitary tumors and pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 132: 739–751
Miller NR (1982) In: Walsh and Hoyt's Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology. 4th ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 123
Stark DJ, Lenton L (1981) Electrophysiological assessment of compressive lesions of anterior visual pathways. Aust J Ophthalmol 9: 135–141
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mashima, Y., Oguchi, Y. Visual evoked potential in the management of pituitary tumor during pregnancy. Doc Ophthalmol 65, 57–64 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00162720
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00162720